Dehlinger Winery

Dehlinger Winery was established in 1975, when Tom Dehlinger planted its initial 14 acres. He built a small winery building with his architect brother Dan on what had been an aging apple ranch on Vine Hill Road, outside the town of Sebastopol. The winery describes Tom as one of the first winemakers to revive western Sonoma County as a winegrowing region after Prohibition. Tom Dehlinger was a former pre-med student and trained enologist with job experience at Beringer, Hanzell, and Dry Creek Vineyard. Soon after, Tom met his wife Carole, and the two started a family on the ranch. Dehlinger ran an active tasting room from 1980 through 1996, then closed it and sold its wine through newsletter offerings. Dehlinger has been owned and operated by the Dehlinger family since the beginning and remains an independent, family owned and operated winery. In 2017 the family purchased the historic Garbro Ranch from its neighbors; the ranch is now a contiguous part of the Dehlinger holdings.

• Established 1975; initial 14 acres planted by Tom Dehlinger
• Winery building built by Tom Dehlinger with his architect brother Dan on a former apple ranch on Vine Hill Road
• Owned and operated by the Dehlinger family since the beginning
• Garbro Ranch purchased in 2017 and now contiguous with the Dehlinger holdings

Tom and Carole Dehlinger are the founders and partners, and sisters Eva and Carmen Dehlinger are second-generation managers and partners. Carmen and Eva, two of Tom and Carole's daughters, oversee day-to-day operation of both the winery and the vineyard. In 2017 Eva Dehlinger was general manager and Carmen Dehlinger was sales manager. In 2014 Eva was assistant winemaker to her father and on sabbatical studying viticulture at the University of Dijon in France, and Carmen had taken on sales and marketing from her mother. Some colleagues have worked alongside the family for one, two, three, and even four decades.

• Founders and partners: Tom and Carole Dehlinger
• Second-generation managers and partners: Eva and Carmen Dehlinger
• In 2017: Eva Dehlinger general manager, Carmen Dehlinger sales manager
• In 2014: Eva on sabbatical studying viticulture at the University of Dijon

The estate vineyard and winery lie in the Russian River Valley on Vine Hill Road, with the Pacific Ocean 13 miles to the west. The property has 80 plantable vineyard acres at the junction of two soil deposits. The larger deposit weathered into goldridge, a fine sandy loam; the smaller reddish deposit became altamont, a gravelly fine sandy loam with a dull red to brown subsoil. By the 1920s it had been observed that altamont soil ripens its crops up to a week earlier than goldridge. On the altamont hilltops and ridge tops, where the topsoil is very thin, yields average well under two tons per acre. Vines are primarily dry farmed, and between plantings the land rests through a multi-year fallowing regime that includes deep plowing, cover crops, and composting. Pinot noir was planted in two primary phases, 1975 to 1989 and 2011 to 2026. The original vineyard was composed primarily of Pommard and Swan clones, later diversified with Martini, Calera, Mount Eden, and Clone 943. The first estate Chardonnay planting dates to 1975, and three acres of Syrah were grafted in 1990. The Garbro Ranch is planted to 25 acres of Chardonnay and 10 acres of Pinot noir on sandy goldridge soil; its old Chardonnay vines carry the heritage Curtis, See's, and Rued clones, and its hillside Pinot noir vines were grafted in 1989 with cuttings of Swan clone Pinot noir from the Dehlinger vineyard.

• 80 plantable vineyard acres on Vine Hill Road, 13 miles from the Pacific Ocean
• Two soil types: goldridge fine sandy loam and altamont gravelly fine sandy loam
• Vines primarily dry farmed, with multi-year fallowing between plantings
• Garbro Ranch: 25 acres of Chardonnay and 10 acres of Pinot noir on sandy goldridge soil

Dehlinger's Pinot noir lineup includes the Estate Pinot Noir, a blend from across the vineyard; the Goldridge Pinot Noir, from deeper goldridge soils; the Altamont Pinot Noir, from hilltop, red, clay-rich soils; and the Garbro Ranch Pinot Noir, from old vines planted primarily in 1988 to Swan clone. When the quantity and quality of a vintage permit, special bottlings highlight specific portions of the vineyard: Octagon, the oldest special Pinot noir bottling, named for the vineyard surrounding the eight-sided Octagon house Tom Dehlinger built in the 1970s; Champ de Mars, from a section adjacent to the winery building; and High Plains, from a high-elevation section planted in 1989. Chardonnay comes as the Estate Chardonnay, from goldridge-soil vines grafted to the Wente clone, and the Garbro Ranch Chardonnay, a blend of the Rued and See's clones. Syrah is bottled as Estate Syrah, as Goldridge and Altamont Syrahs in some years, and as East Face Syrah, a reserve-level bottling made in the best vintages. The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon came solely from the New North Cabernet Block, planted in the early 1980s on rootstock not resistant to phylloxera; declining yields made the block uneconomical to farm, the vines were removed after the 2022 harvest, and the 2022 is the last Cabernet Sauvignon bottling from Dehlinger's founding era. The Garbro Ranch wines are a sister label to Dehlinger's Estate wines. Visits to the estate are by appointment only.

• Pinot noir: Estate, Goldridge, Altamont, and Garbro Ranch; special bottlings Octagon, Champ de Mars, and High Plains
• Chardonnay: Estate (Wente clone) and Garbro Ranch (Rued and See's clones)
• Syrah: Estate, Goldridge and Altamont in some years, and East Face in the best vintages
• Estate Cabernet Sauvignon: the 2022 is the last bottling from the founding-era block

Dehlinger describes wines from its goldridge soils as tending to be fruit-forward, aromatic, and supple on the palate, and its altamont wines as often more brooding, denser, thick, and firm. The winery describes its Pinot noirs as "Luscious and balanced, with a striking purity of fruit" and its Russian River Valley Chardonnays as known for their "balance, fresh acidity, and unctuous flavor." In a typical vintage it ferments approximately 30 separate lots of Pinot noir, each representing a distinct area of the vineyard, and evaluates and blends them as they evolve in barrel. The Altamont Pinot Noir includes a small amount of whole clusters in the fermentation. Chardonnay grapes are picked at night, whole cluster pressed, and fermented in French oak barrels using native yeasts, followed by full malolactic fermentation and aging on the lees for approximately one year; the Chardonnays have been bottled unfiltered since the late 1990s. Syrah is fermented in open-top tanks and matures over two years in 132-gallon French oak puncheons. An on-site bottling line lets the winery bottle each wine when properly matured, and a temperature-controlled warehouse sits on site as well. Charlie Olken, publisher of the Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine, told The Press Democrat in 2014: "No winery has done better with pinot, and, frankly, none really comes close."

• Approximately 30 separate Pinot noir lots fermented in a typical vintage
• Chardonnay picked at night, whole cluster pressed, fermented with native yeasts in French oak barrels, and bottled unfiltered since the late 1990s
• Syrah matured over two years in 132-gallon French oak puncheons
• On-site bottling line and temperature-controlled warehouse

Primary sources (producer's own sites): https://www.dehlingerwinery.com/discover/story, https://www.dehlingerwinery.com/discover/place, https://www.dehlingerwinery.com/discover/approach, https://www.dehlingerwinery.com/discover/soils, https://www.dehlingerwinery.com/discover/people, https://www.dehlingerwinery.com/discover/wines/pinot-noir, https://www.dehlingerwinery.com/discover/wines/chardonnay, https://www.dehlingerwinery.com/discover/wines/syrah, https://www.dehlingerwinery.com/discover/wines/cabernet-sauvignon, https://www.dehlingerwinery.com/visit, https://order.dehlingerwinery.com/wines/, https://www.garbroranch.com/, https://www.garbroranch.com/wines, https://www.garbroranch.com/new-page-1. Secondary sources: The Press Democrat (May 2, 2017; February 18, 2014). Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Last verified 2026-10-12