With Waldele Family being my Oenovangelist featured winery offer for May, I asked Hannes to taste through the wines and he generously poured me the lineup we focused on and then some. He is a talented winemaker and I cannot recommend his personal wines enough. They are well worth a try, then acquiring to give some age to more.
2023 Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc-
A fresh and vibrant style with aromas of lemon, lime zest, passionfruit and a bit of underripe pineapple. On the palate, the flavors follow the aromas with added hints of gooseberry. It has nice acidity, keeping it crisp and refreshing with nice texture from aging in neutral oak puncheons.
2022 Ricci Vineyard, Los Carneros Chardonnay-
A kernel aroma first greets the nose, along with rich notes of toasted brioche and vanilla bean as well as hazelnut. It has a lovely texture making it seem on the richer side, but it's balanced by good acidity. The flavors are immediately warm apple tart, along with supporting flavors of pear, lemon curd and pie crust accents. It's a luscious wine without being overly heavy or cloying and according to the winemaker, received no ML treatment.
2021 Carneros, Sonoma Pinot Noir
Planted to clone 828 planted in 1992. This wine received 33% new French oak. Aromas of red cherry, currant, strawberry and cranberry along with a dark earthy note of perhaps black tea and forest. It has bright acid which balanced its more brooding fruit character of red plum, cranberry, currant, pomegranate and cherry. It's fresh and crisp with a touch of oak spice on the finish. It sits nicely between a European expression and California.
2023 Roberts Road, Petaluma Gap Pinot Noir
20% whole cluster inclusion with the added work of browning the stems and reintroducing them into the juice. It has a very expressive nose oh high toned red fruit and meadow flowers. It's juicy and vivacious on the palate with loads of fruit, including cherry, pomegranate, strawberry and candied apple. It's a really gorgeous wine, dare I say sexy. Luscious and round, it's a plush expression of what makes balanced CA Pinot so beautiful.
2022 Murray Ranch, Sonoma Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
Nose of red and black fruits with hints of fresh boysenberry. On the palate, it's dominated by red fruits- currant, plum and black cherry. It has polished tannin and really nice texture. The finish is persistent and very nice.
Solera Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
A fun bonus we got to try! Made from 3 vintages of dramatic sites in Napa- Howell Mtn., Oakville and Coombsville. It has a floral perfume over dark berry fruit. The palate is refined and loaded with an array of red and black fruits. I confess we were deep into discussion, so I didn't take as many notes here. But this is a very well made wine that will please the Napa Cab lover, staying in the sweet spot between beauty and beast. Highly recommend it if the price point of $175 fits.
2023 Caldwell Vineyard, Coombsville Chardonnay
We ended the tasting with this, so in context of having just had Cabernet- It has loads of minerality and almost petrichor to it. It has "crunchier" fruit leaning on its green edge, but doesn't come across as under ripe. It has verve and tension and layers of flavor with bright acidity throughout.
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