Ordering from DuMOL Winery and talking to Kerry Murphy Jr.
The first thing I wonder about when I see the name “DuMOL” is whether all those letters are really meant to be capitalized. I mean, the label shows the winery name as “DuMOL,” so I assume that must be correct. But here and there on the DuMOL Web site I see “DuMol” written out. Very mysterious indeed.
But all mystery aside, the good people at DuMOL are extremely nice. I had a call from Kerry Murphy Jr. this week, who is the son of DuMOL proprietor Kerry J. Murphy. Kerry Jr., as he says when he answers the phone, wanted to know whether I was interested in being a part of the DuMOL pre-release membership opportunity.
Now, I must say I was awfully impressed. I have never had a winery call me up directly to chat about their wines, even in a sales capacity. I signed up for the DuMOL mailing list but that was it, and when I did I assumed I’d get the same treatment as with every other boutique winery: a flyer in the mail heralding their upcoming release, listing a few reviews, extolling the virtues of dirt, etc., etc. But not DuMOL! They actually called me directly, and as a result I thought very seriously about joining their pre-release membership group.
First, though, I did some research. DuMOL caught my attention because of an article in a Prince of Pinot newsletter. The Prince had a tasting that compared “Three Amigos” of Russian River Pinot Noir: DuMOL, Kistler, and Rochioli. Now, I had heard of the latter two on reputation alone, and I have seen lots of reviews of their wines. But DuMOL was a new one and I became interested in learning more when I read this sentence:
“These three producers are alike in that there is no public tasting offered for these wines, all are sold almost exclusively through a mailing list, and they rarely appear on restaurant wine lists.” (link to original citation, PDF format, p. 7)
Clearly, a sentence such as that one piques my interest every time. I started looking up other reviews of DuMOL wines and I saw scores in the mid to high 90s. Very interesting indeed. I also notice they make two general groups of wines: Russian River Valley blends of 5 to 6 different vineyards that result in highly regarded Chardonnay, Syrah, and Pinot Noir bottlings; and 3 different Pinot Noirs, 3 different Chardonnays, and 2 different Syrahs that all focus on more specific vineyards and clones. They also make a Viognier that really caught my eye (and at 120 cases, it’s quite limited). The 2002 ryan Pinot Noir looks like a particular press favorite, clocking in at 94 points in Wine Spectator and 94-96 points in Wine Advocate.
So, on Friday I called Kerry Jr. back and we chatted for 10 minutes about Syrah/Viognier co-fermented wines before I gave him the go-ahead to ship me a six-pack of wines in May. We also talked about future allocation procedures and his answers were very encouraging. Basically:
- In May 2007 I will get 2 each of the 2004 Russian River Valley (RRV) releases - the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah
- Later in 2007 I will receive an allocation to purchase certain amounts of some or all of the other DuMOL wines.
- In 2008, I will be able to call Kerry Jr. again and specify the allocations I want for future purchases. So if I only want a couple of Pinot Noirs and the Viognier, I can probably do that.
That’s really cool! I’m excited to try these wines and see what all the fuss is about. The average aftermarket price for the 2004 DuMOL RRV Pinot Noir currently stands at $75.50/bottle, while the list price is $58/bottle. Good to know when you’re deciding to sign up for an allocation. But in the end I don’t care about the aftermarket values of these wines. I am much more interested in being a part of a very nice and interesting winery that clearly takes the time and makes the effort to consider their customers. Now that’s a smart business model for a winery.