Walter Hansel first planted his vineyard of Burgundian varietals in the cool-weather pocket of the Russian River Valley’s southern stretch back in 1978. Just west of Santa Rosa and less than 20 miles from the Pacific near the Sebastopol Hills, the Hansel vineyards are rooted in a complex array of soils that retain less water and allow Pinot Noir to struggle for sheer profundity and a mineral-inflected voice. This special pocket of the Russian River Valley is blessed with cool morning fog from the Petaluma Gap, warm days, cooler nights and a longer, slower growing season that is ideal for world-class Pinot Noir. Great care has been taken in choosing clones for the estate, which results in a further complexity that is almost without rival in the appellation.

 

Though Walter began working the soils of the Russian River Valley nearly 30 years ago, it was his son, Stephen, who first crafted wines from the family estate back in 1996. His first vintage was actually made in a garage and the family has stayed true to its small, boutique roots – although wines are now made in their state-of-the-art winery. Farming is organic, and yields are kept quite low. The vineyards are worked and harvested by hand in the wee small hours of the morning; the fruit is carefully sorted, entirely destemmed and then cold macerated for 5-7 days. The wines are fermented with only natural yeasts in open-top fermentation tanks, which delivers Pinot Noir as nature intended. Although the cooperage varies with the demands of each vintage and cuvee, the wine is always aged in a calculated mixture that allows a maximum of 25% new French oak with the remainder maturing in one and two-year-old barrels to suit the individual needs of each distinct wine. Only 1,200 cases of this Estate Pinot Noir are produced and the result is a snapshot of the Russian River Valley that will enchant any devotee of perfumed, finessed Oregon or Burgundian Pinot Noir.