Dan and Darryl.

Darryl Miller, Dehlinger Winery rep, is back in the studio on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. He has been a guest on CWC twice before, on this episode on August 26, 2020 and again on July 20, 2022.

Dan Berger describes Darryl Miller as, “…one of the good guys.” Darry has been in the wine business for more than 50 years. The Dehlinger winery has been around since the 1970s. It was one of the first vineyards to be planted in western Sonoma County in 1975 in an area that was mostly apple orchards. Tom Dehlinger is still involved in the winery but his daughters are running it. Darryl was hired to represent Dehlinger in the marketplace. It is rare to find wines that have such character, says Dan Berger.

The area was cooler in the 1970s than today. Tom Dehlinger worked carefully in the vineyard in order to keep high acidity in the wines, so they are consistent. Almost all the Chardonnay planted on the Dehlinger vineyard is the Wente clone. They begin tasting the 2021 estate Chardonnay.

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The Chardonnay is deep and rich, with acidity in the aftertaste and has a long finish. A lot of other Chards are sweeter. Dehlinger Winery has control over all aspects of the farming and production.

Darryl Miller started in Seattle in the restaurant business 50 years ago where he was working as a waiter. Their wine steward suggested that he knew enough about wine to be successful in wine sales. He started working nights in the restaurant and days “on the street.” Then in 1981 he started his own company as a broker and he worked with some of the greatest brands at the time.

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Dan Berger knows that property and describes it as being on a slight hill. The soils do change from place to place. In one area, there is gray Goldridge soil. In another area, there is brown Altamont soil. They are one of the few areas that has some Altamont soil. Every block ripens at a different pace.  Every vine has a number and they harvest individual areas to make sure each vine is harvested at the right time.

Dehlinger was also one of the first wineries to plant Cabernet Sauvignon in Sonoma County.

The Dehlinger vineyard house.