The 2022 DuMOL MacIntyre Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir is a particularly strong, cool-climate Sonoma Coast Pinot. The critics are consistently positive, with scores ranging from 92 to 97 points. The consensus is that it is medium/light-bodied, intensely aromatic, savory and mineral-driven, with bright acidity and firm, fine-grained tannins.
The scores and tasting notes are corroborated by the producer's 2022 press materials and current retail listings.
What the critics are saying
James Suckling — 97 points: Probably the most distinctive review. He emphasizes the wine's iodine/seaweed character, alongside plum and dried cherry, and describes it as compact, chewy and unusually maritime. His recommendation is to give it another two or three years, with drinking beginning after 2026.
The Wine Independent — 96 points: This is the most aromatic description: rose oil, wild blueberries, pomegranate, spearmint, forest floor and Sichuan pepper, followed by bright red and blue fruit, racy acidity and fine tannins.
Jeb Dunnuck — 95 points: Audrey Frick highlights the vineyard's very sandy soil and 100% Calera clone, with fresh fruit, sea spray, tea leaf and redcurrant. She sees the wine as balanced and capable of 10–15 years of further development.
Wine Advocate — 94+ points: Erin Brooks calls out pomegranate, rhubarb, hibiscus tea and iodine. Her assessment is more delicate than Suckling's: light-bodied, pure, finely textured and driven by mouthwatering acidity. She recommends 3–5 more years in bottle.
Wine Spectator — 92 points: The most conservative score, but still a favorable review. It emphasizes the wine's racy freshness, hibiscus and iris, bitter plum and cherry, with a mineral finish.
Antonio Galloni / Vinous — 92 points: Galloni sees a more floral, light-on-its-feet and elegant expression, with crushed red berries, orange peel, spice and mint. His 92 is notable because he generally rewards finesse rather than sheer concentration.
My take on the vintage
This is not the big, rich, fruit-forward style of Sonoma Pinot. The 2022 MacIntyre is much more about site character and tension: red/blue fruit, salty coastal minerality, herbs, iodine, flowers and acidity.
DuMOL itself describes the 2022 as leaner and less structurally dominant than the spectacular 2021, but with greater precision, focus, purity and cool-climate coastal character. The wine came from 100% MacIntyre Estate fruit, Calera clone, harvested August 24, and was aged 11 months in 33% new French oak.
Bottom line: I'd regard this as a ~95-point consensus-quality wine, with Suckling's 97 particularly compelling. If you like Burgundian/finesse-driven Pinot, savory mineral notes, bright acidity and moderate body, this looks excellent. If you prefer plush, sweet-fruited California Pinot, it may seem comparatively austere.
Best drinking: I'd personally target 2027–2032, although it should be enjoyable now with decanting. The critics collectively suggest it has considerably more life beyond that.
How does one replicate the incredible quality of 2021? That’s a tough ask! It was selected, after all, as “Wine of the Year” by the world’s most prominent wine critic. The natural answer is to farm the vines at the highest possible, most precise level as the new vine growing season progresses. There’s no recipe here, the grapes vary in style each vintage, just as they should. And so, the fruit is leaner than 2021, the volume a little toned down, the structure less dominant. What we have instead is precision, focus, drive and purity of sandy soil, cool climate Pinot character. There’s a strong sense of tiny grape-berry intensity in this wine. It energizes the palate and fills the mouth with density but remains a middleweight – lithe, tangy, and uniquely coastal in expression – you can’t find this wine style anywhere outside a 12 mile stretch inland of the Pacific Ocean in western Sonoma County.
