Between The Wines
GREAT LAKES WINE & SPIRITS
There are few more storied wineries in California than Hanzell Vineyards. There were only a small handful of wineries operating in what we call wine country post World War II; very rural and sleepy at that time, the word country could be in all caps Then in 1953 a wealthy, well-traveled industrialist named James Zellerbach who was a lover of Burgundy
decided to try to make ‘burgundy’ in California Thus, he planted a whopping 3 acres each of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. At that time, there was likely less than 300 acres of those varietals planted in all the U.S., so Ambassador Zellerbach (he was the U S Ambassador to Italy late in his career) was way ahead of the curve Located just outside the village of Sonoma at the ‘toe’ of the Mayacamas mountains Mr Zellerbach was prescient in locating his vineyard: today the area is a sea of vines, producing some of Sonoma County’s (and California’s) best wines,
September 2024
In this newsletter you can expect:
Hidden Treasures
What’s New Thoughts & Observations
Hidden Treasures continued..
Hanzell Vineyards
including world-class Pinot & Chard
The estate now farms 46 acres of vines, but one would also find cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, geese, ducks, dogs, cats, turkeys, deer, vegetable gardens and orchards an inter-connected eco system.
This is not a flashy winery, nor are the wines they are beautiful, balanced, understated beauties. But in this era of ‘it’s the latest, it’s the greatest’, veteran/legacy wineries like Hanzell are sometimes overlooked. In this case, that is a huge mistake: we doubt there are better examples from anyone in our book Taste great wines and taste history: get your hands on Hanzell
What’s New?
Domaine de Montille
As avowed Burgundy lovers, the wines of Domaine de Montille have always had a very special place in our hearts since they represent the very best of what Burgundy has to offer Established in Volnay in the 1730’s, the Domaine rose to fame in the 70’s and 80’s under the stewardship of the late Hubert de Montille A practicing attorney and a very forward-thinking vigneron, Mr de Montille was a champion for quality wines and better agricultural practices helping lead the region out of the ‘Monsanto era’ in Burgundy. Many young vintners (now the old guard) learned at Mr. de Montille’s knee. Now under the direction of Hubert’s son Etienne, the estate has added to its holdings considerably and now encompasses 20 hectares---with an astounding 75% in Premier Cru & Grand Cru vineyards.
Due to the nature of Burgundy its allocated and expensive we will mostly sell these wines as pre-sells (one in spring, one in fall) However, we were able to snag some of their ‘entry-level’ 2ine a simple Bourgogne blanc but we’re pretty sure its not so simple Do yourselves a favor and dig into the wines of de Montille!
p p g price book), however it has prompted some questions from our customers and it seems to be a bit about the category that is misunderstood. So… Simply put, organic wine and wine made from organic fruit are not the same. Organic wine must made from organic fruit, but additionally, no sulfites may be used in the winemaking process Sulfites are an essential tool used in making most wines; omitting them dramatically changes the character and taste of a wine--they are essentially ‘natural wines’ and all that term implies. We sell scores and scores of traditionally-made wines that use organic fruit but they are not organic wines
Hope this makes sense; if not reach out to the Wine Geek!
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