2007 Walter Hansel Estate Chardonnay – Valued at $30

Walter Hansel himself started with 257 Chardonnay vines planted in the Russian River Valley in the 1970s. The first commercially-available vintage was released in 1996, and today the estate’s Sonoma County vineyards cover 80 hectares (198 acres) of land planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with an additional vineyard planted to Sauvignon Blanc in Lake County. All of the vineyards are hand-harvested and sorted, and the blocks are fermented separately. The Pinot Noir grapes are destemmed and gravity-fed into open-top fermenters, while the Chardonnay grapes are pressed in whole clusters and fermented in French oak.

Generously donated from the wine cellar of Allen Snyder