Watching the thread about Top 5 California pinots a bunch of people mentioned Donum however I see very little activity around their wines on the forum.
I just got accepted on to their mailing list and is to have a chat with about a membership next week. With that said I have only ventured very little in to their wines but liked what I got and thought I would dip toes more seriously in to a couple of allocations.
What do people have to say about their wine, aging, vineyards etc.?
For reference I enjoy and primarily stick to the following producers from California (in no particular order):
Pinot
Peay
Littorai
Marcassin
Kistler
Occidental
Rivers-Marie
Flowers
Hanzell
Hirsch
William Selyem (select vineyard and typically older vintages)
Ceritas (select vineyards)
Failla (select vineyards)
Chardonnay
Aubert
Kistler
Marcassin
Kongsgaard
Hudson
Hanzell
Peter Michael
Pahlmeyer
Ferren
I think their Pinots are pretty darn good based on the one tasting (2016 vintage) that we did with them - they are not inexpensive though. IMO their wines tend to be on the darker, richer end of the spectrum with good complexity. After returning home from the tasting, I tried signing up for their list and got a message that they would get back to me. They never did - probably just as well. Cheers!
Very competently made and tasty wines. I think they may have gone towards more elegance as of late but I don’t taste as regularly any more as I used to, but they were never overripe, sweet or warm in alcohol (which I can’t stand in Pinot).
Also, good people. Which maybe shouldn’t matter when it comes to pure objective taste, but there’s enough good wine out there to be selective.
Yeah I really enjoy their wines and been on the mailing list for a couple years now. I’m also a big Littorai & Rivers-Marie fan if that helps.
I could definitely be off with some of the details but from what I remember from my original tasting there, I believe the story goes, the current owners came across the Donum wines (years ago) and quickly fell in love with their style due to their love of Burgundy. They made an offer and bought the site & winery sight unseen. They continue to consider themselves a Pinot Producer first and foremost and strive to produce in a more Burgundian style.
Also doesn’t hurt they have an incredible contemporary art collection, much of which is spread throughout the property. Anyone who loves both wine & contemporary art will be in Heaven here. A fun little article on the art side:
I visited the estate in 2015, purchased about a case and drank over a few years. I like the Donum wines immensely, although haven’t sought them out in recent years.
They were the reason I was confused by the thread a while back about carneros PN being less than other pinot producing regions in CA. It’s a nice visit and very good wines. I agree with dark, brooding, complex. Medium weight and not over extracted. Good enough acid support but it’s not on your mind at all. Not burgundian but certainly not RRV either…
I am also a big fan of Donum. The winery is absolutely beautiful and has fantastic art work. I’ve been a member of their wine club since 2017 and have been impressed with most bottlings. I originally learned about them from Wine Spector reviews and praise but after having a few bottles, I’ve stayed with them. I’ve introduced their wines to my family and friends who usually add a bottle or 2 to my orders. However, I wish their wines were offered via mailing list allocation, where I could chose what I want, and not via wine club but they are pretty flexible in making adjustments to their shipments 3 times per year.
I think Donum is a style of their own. They are the only winery that I buy directly from in Carneros, even though not all wines are from Carneros.
Very generally speaking and not breaking down every bottle, the reserve wines tend to be fuller bodied with red and even some dark fruit tones. They tend to be more complex but some of the AVAs, depending on vintage, can punch above their weight and can hold their own with the reserves. The AVA bottles tend to be more medium to medium/full bodied. For me the Anderson Valley is a little bit lighter and elegant than the other AVA pinots. They tend drink well on the earlier side and really hit their stride at the 4-7 year mark. I’m not sure how they will age but I would assume the reserve bottles have greater aging potential. I personally enjoy all AVA bottling but really enjoy the West Slope and Russian River Reserve. Unfortunately, they raised their prices a year ago and these bottles got expensive but they have a new membership level (grand cru) which provides a 15% discount on all bottles, which brings the reserve prices closer to where they were prior to the recent increase.
I have a tough time comparing but they fit in well with the portfolio of pinots I collect, including but not limited to, Aubert, Rivers-Marie, Ferren and Dehlinger (not as much recently).
I find them texturally a bit like Williams Selyem - medium to full bodied, with a mixture of savory notes against a dark fruit background with subtle acidity and fine grained tannins. The donums will usually be a little higher in alcohol and exctraction, compared to WS but not much. I think of Aubert’s pinots as further down the “modern” scale with respect to alcohol and oak influence. RM pinots often have a more candied fruit profile in my experience. Broad generalizations but that’s how I’ve remembered them
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