Hanzell Vineyards estate spotlight
The Press Democrat walks the Mayacamas hillside estate Ambassador James Zellerbach planted in 1953, with the original 1956 cellar now a museum. Estate film, not a generic Sonoma montage.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2021 Hanzell Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir Sonoma Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $80.56 and the average is $96.41. Our slash is $45.00.
2021 Hanzell Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir Sonoma Valley, USA
Ambassador Zellerbach's 1953 Mayacamas Pinot, estate bottled above Sonoma, a 2021 you can open at forty-five dollars.
This is the Estate Pinot Noir, grown, produced, and bottled at Hanzell above Sonoma since 1953. The 2021 is Bing cherry, bergamot tea, forest floor, and blood orange, now $45.
The Estate Pinot, not a second label
This is Hanzell's Estate Pinot Noir from the Mayacamas hill, one of the oldest continually producing Pinot sites in the New World. The original 1953 block is still in production. Old-school California Pinot: not extracted, not sweet. Cherry, tea, orange peel, forest floor, and tension. This is the proof that the 1953 hill still speaks in a glass you can actually buy.
The house
Ambassador James Zellerbach planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir here in 1953, naming the estate for his wife Hana. The de Brye family has owned it since 1975.
The ground
Mayacamas slopes above Sonoma, volcanic clay-loam, 450 to 830 feet. The original 1953 block is still in production.
The style
Old-school California Pinot: not extracted, not sweet. Cherry, tea, orange peel, forest floor, and tension.
The drinker
Bing cherry, bergamot tea, a mineral line. Serve near 58 F. A short decant. Salmon or mushroom risotto.
Cherry, tea, orange peel, and forest floor
House notes on the 2021 Sonoma Pinot point to Bing cherry, bergamot tea, cranberry, pomegranate, worn leather, orange peel, forest floor, and rose petal, with a long bright finish.
A taut California Pinot year. Hanzell kept extraction gentle and the frame mineral. The 2021 drinks now and will take more time in bottle.
Bing cherry, bergamot tea, cranberry, pomegranate, orange peel, forest floor, rose petal.
Lifted, not heavy. Fine tannin, bright acid, a mineral line through the middle.
Long and bright. Serve near 58 F. A short decant if young.
Whole cluster, French oak, a short rest
Hanzell still makes Pinot the Burgundy way: cold soak, French barrels, no jam. The estate is 200 acres on the Mayacamas, about 46 of them vines, CCOF organic. The original 1956 cellar is still on the hill. Pinot sees a cold soak and French oak. Estate lots have historically used a share of whole cluster and a minority of new barrels. Jason Jardine leads the cellar today. Character over extraction.
Serve near 58 F in a Burgundy glass. A short decant if the wine is tight. The 2021 is lifted, not heavy. Fine tannin, bright acid, a mineral line through the middle.
From Clos de Vougeot dreams to the de Brye hill
Zellerbach came home from Burgundy and built a California Clos.
James Zellerbach, industrialist and U.S. ambassador, fell for Burgundy and planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay above Sonoma in 1953, when North America had only a few hundred acres of each.
The first vintage was 1957. Brad Webb set the house style. The de Brye family has owned Hanzell since 1975. Only a handful of winemakers have ever run the cellar.
The 2021 Estate Pinot comes from that hill. Grown, produced, and bottled at Hanzell. The original 1953 block is still in the conversation.
Salmon in the glaze, risotto in the bowl
Lifted Pinot wants fish with fat and earthy mushroom, not a heavy roast.
Two plates. One glazed salmon. One mushroom risotto. Both can take cherry, tea, and a mineral line.
Serve near 58 F in a Burgundy glass. A short decant if the wine is tight.
Honey garlic salmon
Nagi's glazed salmon, herbs. Sweet fish and Pinot cherry, no restaurant wait.
Why it works: Glaze and salmon fat meet red fruit while the wine's acid keeps the plate bright.
View Recipe for Honey Garlic Salmon (opens in a new tab)
Mushroom risotto
Nagi's creamy risotto, thyme, parmesan. Forest floor in the glass, forest floor in the bowl.
Why it works: Mushroom earth echoes sous-bois while cream softens fine Pinot tannin.
View Recipe for Mushroom Risotto (opens in a new tab)Open the 1953 hill this week
Estate Pinot from the Mayacamas. Bing cherry, bergamot tea, forty-five dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the Hanzell Estate Pinot that closes the proof without the estate waiting list.
