Our Story:
Walter Hansel Wines are a product of a hobby beginning. Walter Hansel, my father, loved to grow things; vegetables, fruits, exotic pears and apples. In 1975, he planted 256 vines of chardonnay to further his hobby of being a weekend farmer.
In the early 90’s he enlisted my help with the vines, which I begrudgingly accepted. Soon, with the help of a great and experienced vintner as my mentor, I became super passionate about growing great wine.
In 1996 we created the label honoring my father and in 1998 we offered these wines for sale. Shockingly, we sold out immediately. It was apparent the “hobby” vineyard was becoming a passionate enterprise; however, it stills feels and acts more like a hobby than a business .
Today the vineyards encompass 80 acres of 11 different clones planted around over 20 Oak Trees . It was customary to remove trees to increase vine count but , as good stewards of the Land, we felt the trees were here first and deserved to remain.
Today the winery produces a variety of single vineyard offerings selected from different soils and clones. We matched various clones with rootstocks and soil types to different flavor profiles.
Our attitude is, we grow wine and therefore, the wine making is performed by the same staff that maintains the vineyards. It is customary to have one staff that does nothing but maintain the vineyard and another that works inside the winery. We feel having everyone invested in the whole process creates a synergy from the grapes to the wine in the bottle.
We are all driven by the passion to grow the best wine possible and work with whatever Mother Nature provides.
Making Notes: CHARDONNAY
All of our chardonnay is picked and immediately pressed as whole clusters. The grape juice is moved into 100% French oak from 2 coopers; Francois Freres and Sequin Moreau. New wood varies from 20% of the total to 26% depending on the year and the ripeness. We ferment in oak and
Begin malolactic fermintation when the primary is about 90% complete. We stir the barrels weekly for close to 2 months to gain richness from the lees.
By January the wine is finished and remains in barrel for 9 months before bottling.
Cuvee Alyce is produced from 3 clones; 2 Wente selections and Dijon clone 95. This is the first block to ripen and is our richest Chardonnay offering.
Making Notes: PINOT NOIR
Our pinot noirs are from 6 different clones. We destem and sort all of the fruit and put the whole
berries in open top fermenters to cold soak for 5+ days and than allow the fermentations to begin.
During this process we “punch down” 3 times daily ( this process ensures the juice and berries are homogenized and provides needed oxygen to help the yeast survive.)
After 13-16 days and at the completion of the primary fermentation, we move to 100% Francios Freres barrels; 55% new and 45% 1 year old. The secondary fermentation is carried out in the barrels. We barrel age for 1 year and bottle age for a minimum of 1 year before offering to the public.
The North Slope pinot noir is made from 100% Dijon Clone 115. Cahill Lane pinot noir is produced from the original vineyard site surrounding my home. It is a blend of Clone 115; Mount Eden Clone and a Pommard clone. The Estate into noir has Dijon clone 777; Dijon clone 115; Dijon clone 943; and a Pommard clone. It is representative of our entire Estate.
Our Rose’ is a fun wine made simply for fun. We bleed off ( take a couple of gallons during the destemming process therefore it has very little color ) ) from all of our Pinot blocks and cold ferment this blend. A month before bottling we check the color and add about 7% from our fully fermented pinot noir barrels……just enough to give it that fun Rose’ color .