Named after Stephen Hansel’s mother, the 2012 Chardonnay Cuvee Alyce receives the same oak treatment, but is a selection from a field blend of Hyde, Old Wente and 95 clonal material. Yields were modest due to tiny berries and clusters. A stunning perfume of white currants, quince, peach marmalade and mango is followed by a full-bodied, multi-dimensional, ripe, well-delineated Chardonnay with good acidity, subtle oak and a long, 35-second finish. Drink this beauty over the next 7-8 years.
Combining quality with reasonable prices and estate-grown grapes, you can’t do much better than Stephen Hansel’s Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. He has also recently opened an excellent bistro called Walter Hansel Wine and Bistro at the site of a venue previously known as Zazu on Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa. Sadly, it officially opened the day I flew out of San Francisco. The 2012 Chardonnays had just been bottled when I tasted them, and the Pinot Noirs were all tasted from barrel. Hansel has over 40 acres of Pinot Noir planted with four separate clones. His wines tend to spend one year in oak prior to being bottled. They are always 100% destemmed, enjoy a 5-day cold soak, and around 60% new Francois Freres oak barrels are used during the aging process. Malolactic is always done in barrel rather than tank. The clonal material largely comes from Tom Rochioli’s holdings on the West Side Road in Russian River. The Rochioli clone is occasionally supplemented by the Swan clone and several of the more modern French Dijon clones such as 115 and 777.
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