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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.4 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 23 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Vinnut on 5/13/2014 & rated 90 points: Medium-light golden bright yellow in color. Forward, attractive, developed and complex nose of rich, ripe fruit aromas of apples & pears, citrus notes of lemons/limes & grapefruit with smoky notes, floral notes of honeysuckle, some flintiness, wet stones, butterscotch, spices, minerals with a bit of vanilla in the background. Medium-full bodied with a good concentration of mature & developed, balanced, complex, smooth textured, rich, ripe flavors of green apples, grapefruit, lemons and limes with toasted oak, some butterscotch, spices, stony, minerals and a touch of creamy vanilla. Long lingering crisp finish. Drinks quite well at present and is at the peak of its development although it does have the structure to hold onto this current plateau for another year or two at most. (2627 views) | | | Tasted by Javachip on 4/1/2012 & rated 89 points: San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline, 4/1/2012 (Avenue 5 Restaurant, San Diego, California): Clearly a cut above in terms of quality. Offering generous notes of cream, pear, lemon oil, and smoky buttery oak, with full body and no off notes. Typical of California chardonnays, this wine did not offer much in the way of terroir, minerality, or acidic structure. To find those qualities with any consistency, we must apparently still look to Burgundy. (4030 views) | | | Tasted by SD-Wineaux on 6/27/2011 & rated 91 points: A significant floral profile on the nose, with oaky vanilla carrying through to flavors of pear, peach, orange and minerals. Relatively sweet with a long finish that turns a bit dry and tart. (4224 views) | | | Tasted by Regina on 10/13/2010 & rated 90 points: Another classy showing. A suggestion of sweetness at the start is turned voluptuously to a white-peppered high-toned complexity.
Retained real breadth and interest to the end. (4090 views) | | | Tasted by Regina on 7/23/2010 & rated 93 points: Pale, cool gold. Great chardonnay spectrum aromas on the nose, with a touch of orange peel and caramel, matched and enhanced on the broad palate with a buttery richness and slight viscosity. And then a balancing lightness and focus - a burgundian complexity which I'd not expected. Delicious. (4160 views) | | | Tasted by LARich on 5/19/2009 flawed bottle: bottle was corked... too bad! (2538 views) | | | Tasted by Maverick on 3/18/2009 & rated 88 points: always nice (2145 views) | | | Tasted by buckeye76 on 12/20/2008 & rated 93 points: CRISP CITRUS FRUITS, APPLES, AND BURNT POPCORN IN THE NOSE WITH CITRUS AND APPLES IN THE FLAVOR. NICE COMPLEXITY AND A MEDIUM TO LONG FINISH. (156 views) | | | Tasted by Mattshank on 12/13/2008 & rated 90 points: No formal notes taken. Drank at a Christmas Party. Solid Chard with good balance. (2233 views) | | | Tasted by Melli on 12/6/2008 & rated 93 points: I really like this wine.....with a wonderful QPR to boot! (2309 views) | | | Tasted by rjonwine@gmail.com on 5/30/2008 & rated 91 points: Morel Mushroom Madness at the Plumed Horse (The Plumed Horse Restaurant, Saratoga, California): Bright, light, golden color; lemon pie and vanilla nose; concentrated sweet lemon with creamy texture, a bit tight yet; medium-plus finish 91+ pts. (2993 views) | | | Tasted by DianeR on 3/25/2008 & rated 89 points: Tasted side-by-side with a Columbia Crest Grand Estates chardonnay. The Hansel chardonnay had more complexity to it (no surprise) with notes of melon, citrus, and a slightly tangy / orangy flavor. But the finish on this was short and I took a few points away for that. (2589 views) | | | Tasted by KeithAkers on 1/26/2008 & rated 84 points: Binny's winter warm up (Binny's Highland Park, highland park IL): nose: all oak and nothing else. Not even getting butter or anything like that, just oak
taste: sweet and tangy, but also tons more oak.
overall: very dissapointing. this one was one I was really looking forward to, and it just failed. Good weight on the palate, but oak just dominates this. It has good structure and a long finish, but the finish is all oak. The reason that this doesn't get rated a lot lower is that there seems to be something there, so maybe this just needs a bit of time to show off better. (3965 views) | | | Tasted by mitchwino on 12/25/2007 & rated 92 points: Wow, caramel, toast and green apples down deep with melon (cantalope) and citrus (lemon) on top. Nice balance of viscosity and acidity. Not quite a heavy weight but well worth the price. (3005 views) | | | Tasted by peternelson on 10/23/2007 & rated 93 points: winery: Apples, lush, fleshy, creamy, underlying a’s holding it up; grt long fin. Fantastic. (696 views) | | | Tasted by Sternberg on 10/21/2007 & rated 91 points: nice bottle......hints of lemon, minerals, slight spice (3023 views) |
| By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (11/19/2008)
(Walter Hansel, North Slope Chardonnay Russian River Valley White) Subscribe to see review text. | By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, May/June 2007, IWC Issue #132
(Walter Hansel Winery Chardonnay The North Slope Vineyard Russian River Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (5/30/2008)
(Walter Hansel Winery Chardonnay The North Slope Vineyard) Bright, light, golden color; lemon pie and vanilla nose; concentrated sweet lemon with creamy texture, a bit tight yet; medium-plus finish 91+ pts. 91 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JancisRobinson.com and Vinous and RJonWine.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Walter Hansel Winery Producer website2005 Walter Hansel Winery Chardonnay The North Slope VineyardWalter Hansel was a lifelong wine enthusiast who had the vision to plant 250 vines in 1978. Stephen Hansel, Walter’s son, planted additional acres in the late 1980’s and began marketing wine in 1998. New vineyards and a new wine making facility were added at the family’s estate in 1999.
Our first commercial vintage, 1996, produced 70 cases of Pinot Noir and 350 cases of Chardonnay. In 1999 we expanded to 1,400 Chardonnay and 1,200 Pinot Noir, all from estate vineyards.
Since 2002 we have not purchased grapes and expect to produce 4,500 cases of Pinot Noir and 5,000 Chardonnay.
We currently produce four vineyard designated Chardonnay's and five vineyard designated Pinot Noir’s. These wines all vary in flavors, acid content, and to a lesser degree, texture. They are an expression of their individual soils, environment and clones. Our vineyard designated wines are usually produced in quantities ranging from 100-750 cases. Our estate wines are a blend of all clones and usually produced in the 1,200 case range.
“You don't find guys like Stephen Hansel in the wine business very often. He owns several car dealerships in Sonoma, and wine is just his “little” hobby. Even with all the high scores and press lately, his prices have remained incredibly low. Plus, he doesn't plan on raising his prices, or increasing production. We love it! We recently met Stephen at a wine event in San Francisco, he is so modest about his own wines, and was very interested in the DRC and Leroy we had on display. He obviously has a real passion for Burgundy, and it shows in the wines he crafts, both the Chardonnays and the Pinot Noirs.”
“Robert Parker agrees: “One of northern California’s “good guys” is undeniably Stephen Hansel, who fashions top-quality Burgundian-styled Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. Tom Rochioli first brought these wines to my attention, and Hansel is now one of my reference point visits in the North Coast. Known locally as a major car dealer, Hansel founded the winery in 1978 and now owns over 80 acres under vine. These are all noteworthy cuvees that remain somewhat under the radar. Moreover, prices remain unbelievably fair for wines of such quality.”
Newsletter, Benchmark Wine Group
Stephen Hansel enjoys talking with wine lovers and suggesting the best wine for their tastes. He therefore encourages fine wine lovers to call to order Walter Hansel Wines or find out what stores and restaurants currently carry Walter Hansel Wines.
Winery tours are available by appointment only. Stephen can be reached at 707-525-3614.
Chardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountyRussian River Valley Russian River Valley Winegrowers Association | Wikipedia |
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