Del Dotto Napa Valley

Del Dotto Napa Valley has seen a remarkable amount of growth in Napa Valley over a relatively short amount of time. This is their original winery property (known as the Historic Del Dotto Winery & Caves) but not their original purchase in Napa Valley. In 1988 Dave and Yolanda Del Dotto were on vacation in Napa Valley when they spotted a vineyard for sale in Rutherford; they made an offer that same day which was approved by the seller. The Del Dotto family currently owns two other wineries in the valley, Del Dotto Vineyards in Rutherford and their newest winery, Piazza Del Dotto in Oakville along Highway 29 (just north north of Yountville) along with a third winery site (Villa del Lago) located high on the slopes of Pritchard Hill. They also own or lease several vineyard only properties. The Del Dotto family currently owns more than 435 vineyard acres spread over 7 unique properties, primarily in Napa Valley but with one holding, the Cinghiale Vineyard in Sonoma Coast.

Del Dotto Vineyards is located just down the street from the Silverado Country Club. There is very little signage in front but look for all the ivy covering a historic looking building on the west side of the road. This very historic building dates from 1885 and was founded by Morris M. Estee, a politician and the first president of the Napa Viticultural Society, serving in 1881 – and who also ran for governor of California against the eventual winner, James Budd (also reference Estee Lane, just north of the city of Napa). His winery was designed by noted architect, Hamden McIntyre, perhaps the Howard Backen of the times. Howard was a well-respected contemporary architect responsible for some of Napa’s most creative and innovative wineries (died 2024). Hamden designed a number of prominent wineries including Far Niente (also dating from 1885), the wooden Eschol Winery (now Trefethen Vineyards), Inglenook and the Greystone building housing what is now the Culinary Institute of America.

The winery was in operation until the start of Prohibition and then again after; from 1934 until 1949 it housed the Hedgside Winery & Distillery. An article in the February 1, 1934, issue of the Napa Valley Register indicated this distillery was the only government licensed whiskey distillery west of Peoria, Illinois. Bennedett Distilling Company of San Francisco invested a quarter million dollars to get the operations up and running. And the President of the company, P. De La Montanya said his company chose the site because of the quality of its producing limestone water from an existing well. Their early product was a 93% proof straight corn produced whiskey called Cornhusker.

For some vintages part of Hedgeside was used for the production of Quail Ridge Winery. Quail Ridge was founded by South African born (Durban) Elaine Wellesley and her husband Jesse Carl Corallo, Jr. (a World War II pilot and prolific film director). Both have since died. According to an article in The Napa Valley Register dated July 5, 1992, she graduated from UC Davis with a degree in enology. She and Jesse owned 10 acres of Chardonnay on Mt. Veeder. For some years, Quail Ridge also shared the Hedgeside winery building with a woodworker. The first vintage of Quail Ridge was from 1978. She kept running the operations after her husband died from an accident involving a brush fire on their property in 1981. Jesse was a World War II pilot, who must have had loads of stories about his time in the South Pacific based on what we have been able to read online; he also helped create a prolific amount of content in Hollywood, including as a film director.

At the height of their operations, Quail Ridge was producing some 35,000 cases a year. Local newspapers listed Elaine as co-winemaker for a number of years with Leon Santoro; later she also oversaw wine compliance for a number of local wineries. Locals who we have asked who worked with Elaine indicated she was never the day to day winemaker. Quail Ridge was eventually sold to Christian Brothers in 1988. It is interesting to note that some of her wines were already being tasted and sold at the Christian Brothers’ Greystone Winery in St. Helena prior to their purchase of Quail Ridge. The winery was later sold to winemaker Anthony Bell and a business partner, where it had setup operations on site of what is now Alpha Omega Winery. Fred Franzia (died 2022), the owner of Bronco Wine Co., soon purchased the brand name and what was left of their inventory.

There were very few women winemakers who made at least one vintage in Napa Valley in the 1970s; several others that come to mind who helped make at least one vintage in Napa Valley in the 1970s include Dawnine Dyer, Sandi Belcher, Genevieve Janssens, Zelma Long, Barbara Lindblom, Helen Turley, Rosemary Cakebread, Carol Shelton, Cathy Corison, Jill Davis, Eileen Crane and Julianne Laks. And most likely others we aren’t aware of. The House of Mondavi, i.e. Robert Mondavi Winery employed the most women winemakers in Napa Valley in the late 1970s.

The Del Dotto family (under the name of Dave’s father, John) – purchased the property in the early to mid 1990s and by 1995 had opened up a tasting room for their wines (there are no vineyards on site). Interestingly, the Christian Brothers owned this property for a very short time in 1988 before selling to Heublein in 1989.

However, Del Dotto began producing wine prior to occupying this space; their first vintage was in 1993 and until 1996 was made at Whitehall Lane Winery by winemaker Gary Galleron (a family that has deep roots in the Napa Valley, IE Galleron Lane in St. Helena)

Hospitality
Early on in our work on the Napa Wine Project we were tired of those in the Napa wine industry asking us if we’ve been to Del Dotto and only being able to reply in the negative. So, we finally joined one of their infamous tours. During our first and numerous subsequent visits, Botticelli arias were echoing throughout the winery. Sometimes those in the local wine industry will refer to their tour as “dumplotto” due to their tendency to provide lots of wine on the tour. Our tour guide even referred to this term during the tour.

The tour is approximately 90 minutes (sometimes guests spend up to 2+ hours here) and for most of it, you walk through the very historical caves which were hand dug in 1885. These are among the oldest caves in all of Napa Valley and among just a handful of hand-dug caves. For reference the other pre 1900 hand-dug caves in Napa Valley include: Beringer Vineyards, El Molino, Schramsberg, Stags’ Leap Winery and Storybook Mountain.

Visitors wander around following the host from one wine barrel to the next sampling wine. That is the core of the tour. Because of this focus, one will taste plenty of wine here; if you like a particular wine, you can even request another taste (the correct terminology is ‘revisit’). Each barrel that one tastes has laminated cards in front describing the wine – if you enjoy wine from a particular barrel take the card with you to reference later upon checkout.

Del Dotto knows how to create fun environments for guests. This is by far the most humorous tour that we’ve been on in Napa Valley. You will be laughing. If its busy there may be several tours circulating through the caves at once; all the tour guides seemed to be extremely happy with wide smiles across their faces. Our guide was clearly enjoying each barrel sample along with our group.

One side cave portal we entered was completely covered with slimy moss and our guide told us that if you lick it with your tongue, you would probably end up naked in a desert somewhere. Note their “mofo” barrel blends – which in this case is not a derogatory term, rather it stands for “Missouri oak, French oak” aged. Red stoppers in a barrel means that barrel is already sold out. One of their barrels is a Colbert barrel manufactured by the cooper Nadalie USA (at the time of one of our early visits many years ago was running about $1,600 each – these are certainly significantly more expensive now). The oak for these barrels is from France; only approximately 200 of these types of barrels are made every year.

The tour begins with an intriguing and educational display about oak barrels. Del Dotto has long been known for conducting significant amounts of experimentation with various oak and oak sources including not only from France and the USA but also from Russia, Hungary and Italy. Oak trees in France have to be at least 80 years old by law before they can be cut down. One of their French oak barrels has staves (wood) from 9 different coopers (suppliers).

NOTE: for the foreseeable future, Historic Del Dotto Winery & Caves is only open seasonably and as of our latest update to this review, only on Fridays and Saturdays. Check their website for current opening information.

Select Wines
Del Dotto produces a wide diversity of wines from sparkling to robust and opulent reds. The highlights of the wines we have tasted here over the years are their Cabernet Sauvignon and various red blends. Their Cabernet Franc is also an intriguing bottling based on its Del Dotto style; one cannot always find robust and showy Napa Valley grown and produced Cabernet Franc. It is typically used as a blending varietal and more elegant in style.

These are high octane wines, often harvested riper resulting in higher alcohol, with plenty of flavor and youthful energy. With that said, they are seriously and carefully made. And in the moment, enjoying these bottlings combined with the sultry surroundings produces a highly addictive and memorable experience for guests. It is a powerful combination that creates lasting memories.

Whites/Rosé
The 2021 Piazza de Dotto Rosé of Pinot Noir, Fort Ross-Seaview Sonoma Coast is deep salmon in color; the bouquet offers aromas of raspberry, candied roasted nuts, dried rose petals and hints of ripe strawberry. As this wine evolves in the glass it reveals additional notes of cut grass. The palate shows some weight both in texture and flavor; this is not a light styled rosé. It offers flavors of strawberry, rhubarb, dried orange peel and a subtle note of watermelon jolly rancher. The texture is velvety and satin like. This rosé drinks very well by itself.

The 2021 Piazza del Dotto Sauvignon Blanc, Rutherford Napa Valley is medium gold in color; the abundant aromatics are immediately tropical including scents of pineapple, guava, dried mango, honeysuckle, citrus blossom and lemon curd. There are no varietal characteristics showing in the bouquet that one would typically find from a cooler climate grown Sauvignon Blanc. The mouth feel is fleshy, rounded and supple and is complemented with a richness of flavor which is especially noticeable on the finish. This bottling offers intense flavors including of pineapple and cantaloupe.

Reds
There is a common thread through the Del Dotto red wines; they are ripe, fruit forward, higher alcohol and rich – with a texture that always to some degree regardless of vintage, features the Del Dotto trademark suppleness.

The 2021 Del Dotto Pinot Noir Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast is pale to medium ruby in color; the bouquet offers scents of dark raspberry, cherries and blueberries with a healthy dose of bacon fat. And there are additional aromatics which become more pronounced as the wine evolves, including of mocha, clove, cinnamon, cardamom, white pepper and old cedar box. This not an earthy or overtly spicy showing, but has plenty of aromatic appeal to draw one in, although we are not sure we could identify this as Pinot Noir in a blind tasting. On the palate there are flavors of cherry, dark raspberry and dark chocolate. This wine lingers with some ‘coffee in the morning’ flavors including mocha, espresso and roasted coffee bean. The tannins are fine-grained and polished and linger seamlessly with a subtle drying character on the fruit and barrel influenced finish. This is a riper expression of the variety; the alcohol is a listed 14.8%.

The 2022 Del Dotto Vineyards Zinfandel, Napa Valley is from the historic Tofanelli Vineyard in Calistoga. This wine is pale to medium purple in color; the bouquet is an immediate ‘hit me with fruit’ expression. It is ripe but doesn’t cross into the territory of being overly ripe or overtly jammy. Its highly attractive aromatics include cherry pie, baked plums, strawberries, raspberry jam and red licorice. Other aromatic layers include vanilla, toasted coconut, mocha and white chocolate. The palate is a showcase of both ripeness and voluptuous texture. There are flavors of cherry, strawberry and raspberry accompanied by pie crust, cloves, white pepper and dried anise seeds; this latter flavor reminded us of mukhwas, the fennel seeds we have enjoyed as an after dinner palate cleanser during our visits to India. The mouth feel here is very rounded with supple tannins gently caressing the palate as if one was running their fingers over a cashmere sweater. This wine delivers plenty of pleasure in its youth. 15.2% alcohol.

The 2022 Del Dotto Vineyards Sangiovese, Napa Valley (Pope Valley) is medium ruby in color; the bouquet is brimming with berries and cherries with raspberry, red plum, dried apricot, dried figs, tomato leaf and a hint of white pepper, mocha and toasted coconut. The focus here is on the fruit and its ripeness and a fruit forward expression of the variety. On the palate there are flavors of strawberry jam, red cherry, raspberry jam, ripe Santa Rosa plum, Graham cracker, cinnamon, caramel and chocolate. The rustic and savory character that this variety is known for has been bred out with ripeness. Already in its youth the tannins are highly polished and their rounded character complements a fruit filled finish. Also lingers with dark and pepper spice, but is not peppery as the fruit outshines its spice characteristics. We wouldn’t mind pairing this with the Moto Guzzi pizza with its smoked mozzarella, Caggiano spicy Italian sausage and slow roasted sweet onions at Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar in Santa Rosa, CA.

The 2022 Del Dotto Vineyards Cave Blend, Napa Valley is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 7% Syrah, 6% Sangiovese, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petite Sirah and 2% Malbec. The first vintage of this wine was in 2000. It is deep ruby in color; the hedonistic bouquet offers ripe aromas of blackberry jam, strawberry, raspberry preserves along with clove, cinnamon, cardamom and fennel. If some of the Napa Valley spas would ever create wine aroma focused sensory experiences, they would model their scent choices fully after the bouquet on this wine. On the palate there are flavors of ripe blackberry, dark cherry, raspberry and dark plum. Opulent from the entry through to the finish, the ripe fruit continues to persist for some time accompanied by lightly grainy but already very well integrated tannins in its youth. Lingers also with a subtle dryness. This wine doesn’t really need food; pair with a pool party, warm weather, lots of splashing and appropriate excitement.

The 2021 Del Dotto Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the jammy, fruit forward and uber ripe bouquet offers aromas of blackberry jam, boysenberry preserves, stewed mulberries, baked plums and cherry pie with additional scents of cocoa powder, mocha, espresso and other assorted baking spices. The flavorful palate offers notes of blackberry at the peak of ripeness, boysenberry, Pakistani mulberry, dark raspberry and vanilla. The tannins show some of this vintage grip from Napa Valley red wines produced in 2021 but are in no way overtly gripping or course. Their grainy edged and light drying character outpaces the fruit on the finish. For those looking for pleasure from ripeness, this is a crowd pleaser. While high octane in terms of alcohol at a listed 15.5%, there are still higher alcohol Napa Valley red wines; we have seen red ‘dry’ wines bottled in the mid 16 percent range before. This wine lingers with a light warmth but is not as ‘hot’ as one would expect.

In addition, Del Dotto currently produces at least one dessert wine (they used to produce more). Del Dotto understands the importance of having top brandy fortified in their dessert wine. One of Napa Valley’s best dessert wineries supplies the brandy which contributes to the high quality of these port-style wines – and it’s not Prager. Hint, Del Dotto’s brandy supplier is located high up on Spring Mountain.

Remarkably, Del Dotto used to offer an impressive collection of international wines for sale as well as small more difficult to find wines from other Napa Valley wineries. At one point they were probably the only winery in the valley to offer such a variety of wines to consumers.

Del Dotto began their operations as a small producer, however as they have acquired vineyard land in both Napa Valley and in Sonoma County as well as opened additional wineries, their production has certainly grown. And the number of wines produced has also significantly grown including more recently sparkling wines. As of our last update they are now producing approximately 20,000 cases of wine per year across all three of their wineries.

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Dave Del Dotto traces his family back hundreds of years to Venice and honors his Italian cultural heritage in each of his wineries in a number of ways; often Italian music will be echoing throughout the spaces, much of the furnishing and décor in his wineries were imported from Italy and while using modern wine making techniques he also uses or has used old world traditional wine making techniques.

Prior to his work in the wine world, Dave was well-known for a nationally syndicated program featuring long infomercials shot in Hawaii. These aired late nights on national television about get-rich real-estate investment strategies. At one point, he developed quite a following for his Cash Flow System and his Millionaires’ School. He even wrote a book titled How to Make Nothing but Money.

Based on other articles we have read about Del Dotto Vineyards, we have inferred that other wine writers also enjoy writing about Del Dotto due to Dave’s creativity, ingenuity, fun experiences, style of wines, nod to heritage and over the top opulence of the physical spaces that he has created in each of his properties.

Cautionary note #1: When you pull into their street side parking area in front of the winery be aware that there is a steep drop off next to part of this parking area. We have waited out here several times to see cars totally bottom out as they drive off the road into the small parking strip. Move further down this parking strip and the steep drop off becomes much less pronounced. If parking is maxed out in front of the winery – note that there is plenty more parking on the south and western facing sides located behind the winery.

Cautionary note #2: And also be acutely aware that the part of Atlas Peak Road (in front of their driveway) is a divided road; don’t make the mistake of pulling out of Del Dotto and driving the wrong direction (like we have witnessed several times during our numerous visits to this winery).

Dave and his family also own property and vineyards on Pritchard Hill; years ago, we heard plans about building a luxury 8-room boutique hotel on site, but those plans have since fallen through, as well as building a new winery on this property. We visited the property prior to Del Dotto’s ownership and there was already an existing winery already on site.

Total annual production varies but is around 20,000 cases. For more information about their wines, to join either their wine club or the more coveted VIP membership or to schedule either a tasting or a tour + tasting, visit: www.deldottovineyards.com

Exterior

Interior