Sonoma County Mourns a Fine Wine Pioneer

The green-and-white banners bloomed suddenly along Russian River Valley byways two weeks ago. There are hundreds of them, mostly draped on the roadside signs of vineyards and farms. The banners read, “Forever in our hearts, orchards and vineyards: Warren Dutton.”

Grape-grower Dutton was a pillar of the Northern California viticultural community for more than 30 years. His influence on the region’s development was tremendous. When he suffered a fatal heart attack while horseback riding Oct. 25, at age 57, he left a tremendous void.

Dutton was one of California’s modern grape-growing pioneers. He was among the first few growers to plant the classic European wine grape varieties in western Sonoma County. He was the first in the area to plant Chardonnay, which has become the valley’s signature grape. He was one of the architects of the original Russian River Valley American Viticultural Area (1983) and distinctly cooler Green Valley AVA (1983) within the valley.

As the modern California wine industry developed into a global powerhouse during the 1970s and ‘80s, Dutton stayed at the forefront by learning to work with winemakers in providing grapes that were virtually custom-grown for individual styles of wine. Dutton Ranch fruit was the foundation on which both areas built their reputations for world-class Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.

By the end of the ‘90s Dutton and his sons, Joe and Steve, were farming more than 1,000 acres of top-quality vines (in numerous separate vineyards) in the Russian River Valley and Green Valley, with a long list of wineries purchasing their fruit and an impressive roster of Dutton Ranch-designated bottlings by various producers. Only the Beckstoffer and Sangiacomo families have a comparable presence in the upper levels of fine wine in Northern California.

As Dutton’s sons assumed greater responsibility in Dutton Ranch operations, they began producing their own wines. Joe and his wife, Tracy, operate Sebastopol Vineyards. Steve produces Dutton-Goldfield wines in partnership with former Hartford Court winemaker Dan Goldfield.

Warren Dutton arrived in the Sebastopol area in 1964, when his family bought a hops ranch that happened to include 15 acres of French Colombard. A late-ripening variety, Colombard was not ideally suited to the very cool Green Valley climate, so in 1967 Dutton decided to replant. He sought advice from Rodney Strong, another of Sonoma County’s new-wave wine pioneers.

“I wanted something to harvest earlier,” Dutton reminisced in an interview earlier this year. “Rod Strong said ‘Plant Chardonnay.”’ Some of those original 1967 Chardonnay vines, the classic Old Wente selection (propitiously planted on phylloxera-resistant St. George rootstock) still bear magnificent fruit in their old age; it can be tasted in the J. Fritz “Shop Block” (the first vines were logically planted right around the equipment shop), Kistler “Dutton Ranch” and a few other bottlings.

Dutton recalled that his neighbors initially thought making a commitment to wine grapes was a foolish move. In the early 1960s, virtually all the farms in the Sebastopol area were still planted to apples, hops and prunes. “One of our neighbors told my wife, you know you’re crazy to be planting grapes,” he said. “It was a carry-over from the late ‘40s when grapes weren’t worth anything. One of the guys I leased ground from for prunes and apple orchards had kept all the articles out of the paper talking about when grapes were selling for $15 a ton. In 1964 I sold my French Colombard grapes to Martini and Pratti for $88 a ton.”

Now, of course, most of those neighbors have either gone into grape growing themselves or sold their land to grape growers. And these days, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes grown by the Dutton family sell for around $3,000 a ton. Dutton’s timing was perfect.

Dutton was a founding member of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers, and was just completing his second year as the group’s president. A committed conservationist, he had been president of the Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District since 1993 and was also president of the Santa Rosa Junior College Agricultural Trust.

Those facts tell some of the story. But the greater contribution of a figure such as Dutton isn’t so easily quantified. He was an elder statesman of the agricultural community, an active example and mentor who often reiterated his belief in “farmers helping farmers.”

By all accounts he was always ready to help out--with time, advice, a tractor or a hot cup of coffee on a crisp morning. During a pivotal time in the region’s evolution, he brought the values and experience of the older generation forward along with a working vision of the future. His presence on the scene functioned as a bridge from the old days of hops and apples to the new world of world-class Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and other varietal wines.

Wine lovers who’d like to raise a toast to Dutton’s achievements can choose from an impressive array of wines made from his grapes. Wineries bottling Dutton Ranch-designated wines include Kistler, Fritz, Sebastiani, Rutz, Chaucer, Ehlers Lane, Merryvale, Patz & Hall, Hartford Court, Dutton-Goldfield and Sebastopol Vineyards.

The ’99 Patz & Hall and Fritz “Shop Block” Chardonnays are particularly appropriate. These strikingly different wines--one intense and bold, the other lusciously creamy--have something in common beside the concentration of superb Chardonnay grown in an ideal climate. Each can stand as a shining image of Warren Dutton’s quietly influential career.

As a journalist, I sought Dutton’s perspective often over the years. He always offered a practical, clear-eyed view and had a way of cutting through complexity with a deceptively simple image that struck the essence of an issue.

One of my favorites came in response to a rather convoluted question about how the Russian River Valley has changed from the way he found it in the early ‘60s. Without missing a beat, he replied, “There weren’t nearly as many houses then, so farming was easier.”