THE STORY OF HANZELL

A look at its remarkable past

- AARON ROMANO

The history of Hanzell Vineyards extends deep into Sonoma's winemaking past. There's a timeless quality to this boutique wine estate along the southern reaches of the Mayacamas mountains, which continues to produce restrained, nuanced and ageworthy wines that express their terroir.

Hanzell was the vision of James D. Zellerbach, a U.S. Ambassador to Italy from 1957 to 1960. Inspired by his travels in Burgundy, the San Francisco-raised Zellerbach returned to California and founded the winery in 1953, naming it after his wife, Hana. Zellerbach's first step was to plant 3 acres each of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the foothills above the town of Sonoma. That vineyard remains in production today. Now dubbed Ambassador's 1953 Vineyard, it is the oldest Pinot Noir vineyard and the oldest continuously producing Chardonnay vineyard in North America.

The story of those vines adds another fascinating layer to the legacy of Hanzell. Zellerbach hired Ivan Schoch, then-manager of Oakville's famed To Kalon Vineyard, to plant the vineyard. Schoch took Pinot Noir cuttings from Martin Stelling's property (some of which is considered part of To Kalon), which in turn had come from the Oakville Viticulture Field Station across the street. Those cuttings had an even older source: the Inglenook estate in Rutherford. Meanwhile, the Chardonnay vines came from Stony Hill Vineyard, which took their cuttings from Wente Vineyard in Livermore. Both are now heritage clones, carrying the Hanzell moniker, and the bud wood has been propagated for use in numerous vineyards throughout the West Coast.