Dutton-Goldfield Winery

Dutton-Goldfield Winery began with a handshake in a vineyard in 1998, when longtime colleagues and friends Steve Dutton and Dan Goldfield went into partnership as grower and winemaker. Goldfield had begun working with Steve Dutton and the Dutton family in 1991. Steve Dutton's father, Warren Dutton, started growing grapes in the western reaches of the Russian River Valley in the mid-1960s, and in 1967 he planted the family's first Chardonnay vineyard at Dutton Ranch. On April 16, 2026, the winery announced that Steve Dutton and his wife, Karissa Kruse (Dutton), had assumed full ownership. With that change the winery set out to deepen its commitment to sourcing exclusively from Sonoma County vineyards and increasingly focus its portfolio on Dutton Ranch.

• 1998: founded by Steve Dutton and Dan Goldfield as a grower and winemaker partnership.
• 1967: Warren Dutton planted the family's first Chardonnay vineyard at Dutton Ranch.
• April 2026: Steve Dutton and Karissa Kruse assumed full ownership.
• From 2026 the winery is moving to Sonoma County fruit only, with an increasing focus on Dutton Ranch.

Steve Dutton started working with his father at the age of five and joined Dutton Ranch full-time in 1987; he manages the family business with his mother and his brother, Joe, and as of March 2025 was president and co-owner of Dutton Ranch. Karissa Kruse is co-owner of the winery and chief executive officer of Sonoma County Winegrowers; she owns The Nines Vineyard, and she co-founded Argot Wines in 2007 and transitioned out of its ownership in 2021. Dan Goldfield studied chemistry and philosophy at Brandeis University, came to California in 1980 to do chemistry research at UC Berkeley, and earned an M.S. in Enology from the University of California, Davis. He worked at Robert Mondavi Winery and Schramsberg, made wine in Portugal for two years, and became a winemaker at La Crema Winery in 1990; Jess Jackson later asked him to develop a new winery, Hartford Court, focused on cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Melissa Stackhouse, a native of Michigan, studied viticulture and enology at UC Davis, apprenticed at Robert Mondavi Winery, Sterling Vineyards, Joseph Phelps Winery and Peter Michael Winery, and held winemaking positions at La Crema, J Vineyards & Winery, Meiomi and SIMI. She joined Dutton-Goldfield as winemaker in May 2022. On March 18, 2025, the winery announced that Goldfield was stepping back from day-to-day responsibilities and would keep the title Winemaker Emeritus, with Stackhouse assuming full leadership of winemaking and the winery's custom crush services. Stackhouse was head winemaker.

• Steve Dutton: co-founder and co-owner; joined Dutton Ranch full-time in 1987; president and co-owner of Dutton Ranch as of March 2025.
• Karissa Kruse: co-owner, with Steve Dutton, since they assumed full ownership in April 2026; chief executive officer of Sonoma County Winegrowers; owner of The Nines Vineyard.
• Dan Goldfield: co-founder; M.S. in Enology from UC Davis; previously winemaker at La Crema and developer of Hartford Court; Winemaker Emeritus since March 2025.
• Melissa Stackhouse: joined as winemaker in May 2022; head winemaker, also leading custom crush services.

The Green Valley of Russian River Valley AVA is home to the winery, its tasting room and Dutton Ranch, the source of most of its fruit. Dutton Ranch has grown from its original 35-acre home shop vineyard to more than 1,000 acres throughout the western Russian River Valley, and its vineyards supply fruit to more than 80 wineries. All Dutton Ranch vineyards are certified sustainable under the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance and the Sonoma County Winegrowers sustainability program, and many are also recognized through the Fish Friendly Farming certification program. Beyond Dutton Ranch, its single-vineyard Pinot Noirs have been grown at sites from Marin to Mendocino. Devil's Gulch Vineyard in western Marin County, seven miles from the Pacific Ocean, was first planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in 1980 by Mark Pasternak; Goldfield made wine from its fruit in the early 1990s as La Crema's winemaker, it has been a Dutton-Goldfield vineyard since the winery's founding in 1998, and Dutton Ranch performs all of the farming there. Fox Den Vineyard, on a ridge above Occidental in the Green Valley of Russian River Valley, is farmed by growers Ed and Sue Smith.

• Green Valley of Russian River Valley: home of the winery, tasting room and Dutton Ranch, the source of most of the fruit.
• Dutton Ranch: more than 1,000 acres in the western Russian River Valley, grown from an original 35-acre home shop vineyard; supplies more than 80 wineries.
• Certified sustainable (California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance and the Sonoma County Winegrowers program); many vineyards are also recognized through Fish Friendly Farming.
• Devil's Gulch Vineyard (Marin County): planted by Mark Pasternak in 1980, a source since 1998, farmed by Dutton Ranch; yields are often less than one ton per acre.

Dutton-Goldfield specializes in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and as of 2022 also made small quantities of Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Syrah and Zinfandel. The Dutton Ranch Chardonnay and Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir are multi-vineyard cuvées from select Dutton family vineyard sites across the Russian River Valley. Vineyard-designated wines include the Dutton Ranch-Snow Vineyard Pinot Noir and Fox Den Vineyard Pinot Noir from the Green Valley of Russian River Valley, the Devil's Gulch Vineyard Pinot Noir from Marin County, the Walker Hill Vineyard Chardonnay and Rued Vineyard Chardonnay, and the Dutton Ranch-Shop Block Pinot Blanc. The range also includes the Emerald Ridge Vineyard, Docker Hill Vineyard, McDougall Vineyard, Redwood Ridge, 5 Wells Vineyard and Deviate Pinot Noirs and the Morelli Lane Vineyard Zinfandel. For the 2024 Dutton Ranch Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the winery eliminated the bottle capsule and moved to DIAM cork closures. The winery also uses lightweight glass bottles of about 595 grams with over 40% post-consumer recycled content.

• Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir and Dutton Ranch Chardonnay: multi-vineyard Russian River Valley cuvées from Dutton family sites.
• Single-vineyard Pinot Noirs include Dutton Ranch-Snow Vineyard, Fox Den Vineyard and Devil's Gulch Vineyard.
• Other wines include Walker Hill Vineyard Chardonnay, Rued Vineyard Chardonnay and Dutton Ranch-Shop Block Pinot Blanc.
• Also in the range: Emerald Ridge Vineyard, Docker Hill Vineyard, McDougall Vineyard, Redwood Ridge, 5 Wells Vineyard and Deviate Pinot Noirs, and the Morelli Lane Vineyard Zinfandel.
• 2024 Dutton Ranch wines: no capsule, DIAM cork closures.

The founders set out, in the winery's words, 'to craft wines that express the personalities of their cool-climate vineyards and which are made to love.' The winery's 2022 profile calls every Dutton-Goldfield wine 'balanced, structured, complex, food worthy and sustainable,' and, in the words of its own site, its Dutton Ranch Chardonnay and Pinot Noir showcase 'the classic signature of the region:' 'bright acidity,' 'layered fruit,' 'elegant structure' and 'a balance of richness and freshness.'

The tasting room is in Sebastopol. Tastings are offered daily from 10am to 4pm, walk-ins are welcome, and reservations are accepted; the winery is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://duttongoldfield.com/ourstory, https://duttongoldfield.com/about-steve-dutton, https://duttongoldfield.com/about-dan-goldfield, https://duttongoldfield.com/ourvineyards, https://duttongoldfield.com/vineyardoverview, https://duttongoldfield.com/sustainability, https://duttongoldfield.com/visit-us, https://duttongoldfield.com/news/co-founderwinemaker-dan-goldfield-retires-melissa-stackhouse-to-lead-winemaking, https://duttongoldfield.com/news/dutton-goldfield-enters-new-era-under-full-ownership, https://duttongoldfield.com/news/karissa-kruse-named-a-wine-enthusiast-wine-executive-of-the-year-nomine, https://duttongoldfield.com/news/behind-the-wines-melissa-stackhouse-joins-kens-wine-guide-winemaker-interview-series, https://duttongoldfield.com/news/wine-spectator-reviews-dutton-goldfield-2023-pinot-noir-amp-chardonnay, https://duttongoldfield.com/news/a-first-look-at-the-2024-dutton-ranch-wines-thoughtful-changes-for-quality-and-sustainability, https://duttongoldfield.com/news/the-untamed-heart-of-marin-devils-gulch-vineyard-pinot-noir, https://duttongoldfield.com/news?format=rss. Secondary sources: Wine Industry Advisor (https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2022/05/13/dutton-goldfield-winery-hires-melissa-stackhouse-as-winemaker/, https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2026/04/16/dutton-goldfield-enters-new-era-under-full-ownership/) and The Press Democrat (https://pressdemocrat.com/article/industrynews/dutton-goldfield-sonoma-winemaker-stackhouse). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.