DOGFARM Estate

DOGFARM Estate was founded by Bridget and Gansevoort (Gan) Dunnington and Katie and Russell Yates. The Dunnington’s moved to their 5.6 acre property in the hills above Meadowood at the end of 2012 to be close to Gan’s work at Adventist Health Saint Helena; he is a heart surgeon. The property had never been planted to grapes although some of their immediate neighbors grow grapes including Seven Stones Winery, Herb Lamb Vineyard and Ecotone Vineyard which is located just below their property. This is the smallest property in this particular part of Napa Valley; the neighboring parcels are each 40 acres. With the help of vintner Harry Parsley (died 2022), the founder of Coombsville based Silver Stag wine brand, and Pina Vineyard Management, grapes were planted in 2017.

Their 1.75 acre vineyard is planted to three small blocks, all to clone 5 of Cabernet Sauvignon and each named in memory of three of their past pets: Moana is the lower block, Delilah the middle block and Duke the highest block. This is an extremely rocky site. During the 2020 Glass Fire about 1/3 of their very recently planted vineyard was burned. However, one of the results of this devastating fire is more sun on their vineyard blocks due to the loss of the surrounding trees.

Bridget was not raised with pets. Her introduction to dogs was through a friend who gifted her an English Labrador Retriever puppy from a small litter. This dog became a trusted companion while Gan was putting in long hours in medical school, but especially so after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. This dog was by her side through chemotherapy and experimental treatments. She beat beat cancer and is inspirational proof that sometimes one can overcome significant odds in regard to this almost ubiquitous disease.

After moving to this property she began breeding English Labrador Retrievers, never selling them, but gifting them to friends and family. During our first visit to the property it was no surprise then, that we were first greeted by one of their 11 Labradors. To the Dunnington’s, dogs are like vines; love and care for them and they will give so much back in return. To commemorate special dogs that have died, they always commission a local artist to create a sculpture of a cow. Each piece has its own personality and are displayed outdoors throughout the DOGFARM Estate.

When deciding to produce wine commercially, Parsley introduced them to a number of winemakers. They immediately connected with Maayan Koschitzky, the director of winemaking at Atelier Melka and proprietor of La Pelle Wines; he has been producing the DOGFARM wines since their inaugural vintage in 2018. And when deciding upon a name for their wine brand, it was Maayan who helped convince them to pay homage to their love of dogs. Their wine labels are creatively designed; their textural feel is modeled after the nose of an English Labrador Retriever. An image on the outside of a three-pack of their bottles is a close up of the nose of one of their dogs and the truck that is printed into the wrapping tissue contains two dogs hanging out of both the driver and passenger seats.

Select Wines
Sauvignon Blanc
While no white varieties grow on the DOGFARM Estate, through Maayan’s connections, they source grapes from other premium vineyards. These are texturally driven white wines which showcase an aromatic and flavor intensity from each of the varieties, yet at the same time retains their balance and are lifted by bright acidity. And these wines are built to age.

The 2022 DOGFARM Estate Sauvignon Blanc Rutherford is medium yellow in color; highly aromatic and filled with plenty of olfactory energy in its youth, the bouquet sports notes of honeysuckle, citrus blossom, tangerine, mango, pineapple, yellow nectarines and a hint of vanilla. Richly flavored, yet balanced nicely between acidity and texture this wine shows exceptionally well in its youth. The palate reveals flavors of mandarin orange, kiwi, passion fruit, pineapple guava, yellow peaches, and ripe pineapple. Texturally polished, the mouth feel is smooth and supple. The finish lingers with a bright and agile acidity bounding alongside a persistent richness of flavor. Some wines we just don’t want to pair with anything; this is one of them. Although if you pushed us we might throw in a warm late spring evening in Napa valley, sidled up to a glass of this next to a pool.

The 2021 DOGFARM Estate Sauvignon Blanc Rutherford is medium gold in color; it offers a complex nose with scents of gooseberry, passion fruit, pineapple, mandarin orange, Golden Delicious apple and white florals including star jasmine and citrus blossom. Aromatically this wine is nestled closer to a riper expression of the variety but does not quite cross into the tropical and stone fruited territory. The palate offers a balanced but bright acidity, complementing flavors of pineapple, tangerine, ripe pomelo, pear, white nectarines, kiwi and gooseberry. Perfectly saddled between verve, flavor and texture, this wine is showing extremely well in its youth, but is also built to cellar. The rich and fruit-filled finish is especially lengthy in this particular bottling. Lingers with a very subtle drying sensation. Raw oysters please. Shoutout here, but perhaps this wine would be the perfect company with one of the raw oyster trays and tangy mignonette sauce, provided by The Oyster Girls, a catering company based in Petaluma, CA.

The 2019 DOGFARM Estate Sauvignon Blanc Oakville is 96% varietal with 4% Sauvignon Musqué; it was whole cluster pressed and then post fermentation, aged for 16 months on the lees in French oak barrels of which 25% were new. This wine is medium to deep gold in the glass. The bouquet offers a honeyed note including of honeycomb, ripe stone fruits including nectarines and yellow peaches. There is also a note of ripe mango and bruised Golden Delicious apples – this latter aromatic reminds us of coring these apples harvested from our parents tree and the resulting juice pooling at the bottom of the corer. Bright, minerally, refreshing and lively across the palate, but also generous. Flavors are of stone fruits including apricot, peach and nectarine accompanied by red apples. The texture is a hallmark character of this wine; it is satiny, creamy and glides across the palate like sliding into a cashmere sweater paralleled by bright but balanced acidity. Drinks very well by itself. This bottling has the right balance of acidity, flavor and texture to ensure it will age gracefully for a few more years. For reference we tried this wine 5 years post vintage. The grapes for this wine are from vines planted in 1990.

Chardonnay
The 2020 DOGFARM Estate Chardonnay Heintz Vineyard in neighboring Sonoma County located near Occidental at about 1,000 feet, the recipient of a strong marine climate due to the nearby Pacific Ocean. This wine is deep golden in the glass. It offers beautiful aromas of apricot, peach, ripe pineapple, corn tassel, melted butter, crème Brule and mango. Rich, layered and complex, this wine will quickly change the minds of those who have only been introduced to lesser expressions of this variety. Stone fruited flavors mirror the bouquet to some extent including apricot, dried peaches and nectarines. There is a noticeable intensity of flavor. The texture is rounded and creamy. The oak used in the aging and fermentation of this wine is a complementary character rather than a dominating one. Lingers with a richness of both flavor and acidity. Long finish. The grapes were whole cluster pressed and fermented cold using indigenous yeasts in 100% French oak barrels of which 30% were new. The wine was then aged in barrels on the lees for 8 months. DOGFARM continues to produce Chardonnay every year from this vineyard.

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2019 DOGFARM Estate Cabernet Sauvignon was released before their inaugural 2018 vintage. All grapes for this wine were sourced from the McGah Vineyard in Rutherford. This wine is a blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was aged for 22 months in 70% new French oak barrels. It is deep ruby and opaque; this wine is notably more fruit forward then the 2018 vintage with ripe fruited scents bursting from the glass immediately upon opening. These include dark cherry, Pakistani mulberry, boysenberry and blackberry accompanied by additional layers of of mocha, espresso and cinnamon. Intensely flavored, the palate closely mirrors the bouquet with its ripe berry and cherry fruits along with dark plum, dark chocolate and mocha. The finish lingers with notes of old cedar and dried tobacco leaf. The comfortable tannins showcase a rounded and lightly grainy feel and are well integrated across the palate. Drinks well at this age, nearly 5 years post vintage at the time of our tasting.

The 2018 DOGFARM Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is from grapes grown in Rutherford, Coombsville and Oakville and is 91% Cabernet Franc and 9% Petit Verdot. It was aged for 22 months in 70% new French oak barrels. This wine is deep ruby and opaque with a purplish rim; the elegant and lightly savory bouquet offers sweet tobacco spice, dark raspberry, blackberry, Santa Rosa plum, bramble, dry earth, hints of old cedar, dried herbs and mocha. The fruit becomes more expressive as this wine evolves in the glass. The palate reveals flavors of plum, blackberry, dark cherry and boysenberry framed by a creamy texture of densely packed but fine-grained tannins. The finish is savory. Balanced. Lingers with a note of dried tobacco, dark pepper, smoked sage and a light but long-lasting dusty character. This wine is showing in a sweet spot 6 years post vintage. Pair with a medium rare Tomahawk Steak covered in some sort of your favorite spicy dry rub straight from the BBQ.

The first small harvest from the estate was in 2020; grapes were subsequently picked in 2021 and 2022 but were sold. The first vintage planned to be produced and bottled as DOGFARM from the estate was in 2023.

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When Bridget first met Gan’s parents, she noticed they served wine in crystal glasses with linen napkins. This made an early impression on her so now she prefers to serve the DOGFARM wines in similar stemware, choosing JCB Boutique branded heavy Baccarat crystal glasses. JCB refers to the initials of proprietor of this particular stemware, Jean Charles Boisset.

Total annual production is around 1,000 cases with typically less than 100 cases produced of each wine. The wines are sold locally through Studio 1299A in St. Helena and direct to consumer through an allocation membership list as three-bottle sets. DOGFARM first launched in October 2023 and pours their wines at select events such as the Aspen Food & Wine Festival. For more information, to signup for their mailing list or to order wines, please visit: www.dogfarmestate.com