Between The Wines Newsletter September 2024

ISSUE #129

Between The Wines

GREAT LAKES WINE & SPIRITS September 2024

Hidden Treasures

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,

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!

Thoughts & Observations Organic Wines?

There were recently some changes made to U.S. regulations regarding the import of organic products…including organic wine.

A bit long to go into here (but look at Wine Geek Speaks in our upcoming October 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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GREAT LAKES WINE & SPIRITS

313.453.2200

www.glwas.com

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