2021 WALTER HANSEL THE ESTATE VINEYARDS RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR Born with a love and passion for agriculture, Walter Hansel enlisted his son Stephen to help him plant grapevines on the family estate in the Russian River Valley. Throughout the 1980s, Walter and Stephen experimented with making wine for fun, and thanks to Stephen’s legendary Pinot Noir-producing friend Tom Rochioli, the father-son team learned the nuances of viticulture and how to translate that knowledge into stellar wines. Walter Hansels’ vineyards comprise six different Pinot Noir clones, and The Estate Vineyards Pinot encompasses each, establishing a uniform balance and ultimate complexity. The 2021 release was fermented in stainless steel with an addition of 5% whole clusters to a small number of tanks and matured in French oak for 12 months giving a style focused on the purity of the fruit with a hint of spice.