MN Connection: Duxoup Wine Works

Posted by Nicholas Livingston on August 27, 2017 in Minnesota Wine | no comments

Duxoup Wine Works | Sonoma Valley, California

THE CONNECTION:
Could it get any more All American than studying under a Russian winemaker? Not if it is the renowned André Tchellistchef behind the California wine renaissance and arguably the best winemaker of all time. Could it get any more Minnesotan than being Anoka born and bred? Andy Cutter even studied cooking under the venerable Verna Meyer -Minneapolis’ Julia Child so to speak. Verna was a chef who studied French cooking in France and taught cooking classes in Minneapolis for forty years. Andy Cutter knows something about quality ingredients so it is no wonder he and his wife Deborah make delectable wine. Most amazing is that they make it all themselves -just the two of them if you don’t count their dozen or so cats.

These are real people, and their wines reflect them as much as they do their terroir.

THE PRACTICE:
Duxoup Wine Works is Andy and Deb Cutter. Their winery is their Dry Creek Valley home. Making their wines proves an intimate touch at every step. Their ½ acre Gamay vineyard grows right outside their home and the other vineyards are named for the Frediani and Teldeschi families that tend them. Theirs are fascinating wines of appealing character from varieties seldom planted to the area: Charbono, Gamay, Dolcetto, Sangiovese, and Syrah. In the cellar, their 100+ barrels are not numbered but named; “Halley’s Comet” sits beside “Groucho” or “Harpo” –tipping their hat to the Marx Brothers Duck Soup, then there is “Uncle Dave” and of course “Pavarotti” named for their love of opera. These are real people and their wines reflect them as much as they do their terroir.

THE WINES:
Whether it is the Charbono planted in the 1920s by the Frediani family to the volcanic soils of northern Napa Valley or the Sangiovese planted by the Teldeschi family in the early 1900s to the gravelly clay loam of northern Dry Creek, the Cutters source exceptional fruit. Consistent quality has been paramount from the very start. Since 1981 Duxoup has remained a small production, gravity flow winery whose gentle hand yields wines that are silky, fruity, and come from venerable vineyards. The wines express not only terrior, but the highly skilled work of the two owners, both experienced and respected for their independence. At a mere 1,500 cases a year, Duxoup wines may be rare, but they are well worth the effort to find.