The Donum Ranch covers the slopes of three hills in the Carneros region just north of San Pablo Bay. Nestled amid these hills is a 50-acre vineyard, planted to a diverse collection of Dijon clones and heirloom selections of Pinot Noir. Our Carneros Estate Grown Pinot Noir not only comes from the best blocks in our vineyard – our grand cru sites – but also is a selection of the most appealing barrels within each lot. 

Carneros is renowned for stellar Chardonnay, so although our project is focused on Pinot, we couldn’t resist planting a small block of Chardonnay. The selection of Old Wente Chardonnay came to us as budwood from the Winery Lake and Larry Hyde vineyards. It’s a charming field selection, yielding a host of aromas and flavors from classic apple to banana to floral, including the occasional heady perfume of a musqué cluster. While Pinot is our obsession, we love drinking this Chardonnay, and wanted to offer you the same opportunity.

West Slope comes from the middle portion of our west-sloping 4-90 vineyard block, a 5.5-acre site at the Donum Ranch. The Donum Roederer Selection has always been the mainstay of our Donum Carneros Pinot Noir. Beginning in 2007, as the vines developed further depth and complexity with age, this block seemed to cry out to be bottled as a stand-alone, and the West Slope bottling was born. The West Slope truly represents the culmination of our search for the top Pinot Noir terroirs in Carneros. After the tough decision not to bottle a West Slope in the difficult 2011 vintage, it brings us great joy to see this wine return in stunning fashion in 2012.