Dorsal Wines "Creosote" 2023
- In stock, ready to ship
Press 2 • Direct Press Selection August 2025
I met Devin Myers of Dorsal when he was working at a wine shop in the town of Mendocino, where I was visiting in 2022. Turns out his own wine was on the shelf and as we got to chatting I learned he had worked for Sam Vinciullo, one of my favorite Australian winemakers. This really caught my attention because Sam famously does everything solo, mostly out of necessity, since he is in the Margaret River region, a few hours south of Perth, which is already pretty remote. Devin really wanted to work with Sam to go all the way out there. That is serious commitment. Back in California, Devin and Dani Rozman of La Onda worked a vineyard in the Sierra Foothills, where the grapes for Devin's Krill comes from. He makes his wines in Cloverdale with his partner Jenna St George in a shared facility with two other California natural winemakers, Caleb Leisure and Pete Bloomberg of Llewelyn.
His style is firmly in the hardcore natural wine camp — nothing added, nothing removed — but not the kind that is unsparingly funky. Instead it's in the spirit of removing as many barriers as possible between the vineyard and the person drinking the wine. This is a delicate balance and Devin is one of the best in California at capturing a vivid snapshot of healthy vines and grapes.
"Creosote" is 100% Pinot Gris from Mendocino County, vines that are not irrigated and are worked biodynamically. The soils are ancient seabeds with red adobe topsoil. Pinot Gris is already a pink-fleshed grape and with five days of skin maceration it ends up feeling more like a light red than an orange or rosé. There is a touch of spritz when you first open it, followed by a heady bouquet of guava, papaya, and medicinal cherry. The palate is smooth and tempered with a bit of crunchy earth and rosewater, and it finishes with some rhubarb, arugula, and stony minerals. I've had a number of Pinot Gris made in this way but Creosote is really on another level in terms of purity, freshness, and complexity. It is ethereal enough that you could easily slug it down but a closer look is really rewarding. It's a beautiful wine from a very small, still under-the-radar project we hope to continue seeing around. Jonathan Kemp
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