Malbec Harvest 2012

Mmmm, smells like fresh-baked blackberry pie! Last week we harvested 22 tons of Malbec grapes from our Alexander Valley Red Ranch- by far our largest Malbec harvest ever. Warmed and beginning to ferment, the whole cellar smelled of berries, and was making everyone hungry. This morning, we drained and pressed the three tanks; we're very impressed by our young Malbec block!
  
  
  
  
  
  

Levi's GranFondo bike race is today.

Visitors to HANNA's Russian River Tasting Room: we recommend taking Hwy 12 (either direction) to Fulton Rd. Turn left on Occidental Rd. The portion of Occidental Rd in front of our tasting room will not be closed, but some approaches will be. The race will be in our vicinity in the morning, but watch for bikes all day. Visit http://www.levisgranfondo.com for the full map.
  

General Overview of HANNA Winery &...

General Overview of HANNA Winery & Vineyards with Christine Hanna

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pdl58t648h90eo6/GEN_OVERVIEW_FOR_WEB.mp4

HANNA Yeast microscan:

Twenty five to 35% of our Sauvignon Blanc is fermented without inoculation each year; inevitably, these tend to be our favorite lots. Last year, we had a non-inoculated tank that was so outstanding that we now maintain a proprietary strain. We currently have a 12,000 gallon tank of Slusser SB smelling of peaches and passionfruit, thanks to beautifully ripened grapes and the HANNA Yeast!
  

Harvest with the Hannas Event

Our annual Harvest with the Hannas Celebration at our gorgeous Alexander Valley Tasting Room is today. We have live entertainment, endless gourmet pizza from Rosso, coopering of the barrels demonstration, petanque court tournament, a vineyard tour and the release of our newest vintages.

Happy Autumn!

To date, we've harvested 170 tons of Sauvignon Blanc, and expect to bring in 170 more. We're busy racking and filtering the three most recent lots today, while the earlier tanks are happily fermenting. Photos: 1. Isaac Hinchliffe measuring the fill level. 2. Fermenting tank of Sauvignon Blanc. 3. Fernando Mendoza chats with Isaac as they clean the filter.
  
  
  

Draining and Pressing Pinot Noir

After draining and pressing our half ton pilot fermentation yesterday, we decided to press the tanks a little sweeter; so, 11 tons of Home Ranch Pinot were pressed today, and the last four tons will be pressed tomorrow.

Photo 1: Chilo harvesting Pinot from the Home Ranch.

Phot 2: Fermenting Pinot at the end of a pump over.

Photos 3 & 4: After draining the wine from the tank (3), the pomace is shoveled into bins and put into the press (4).

Photo 5: Juan keeping an eye on things.

Photo 6: Young Pinot draining from the Diemme Press


  
  
  
  
  
  

Christine Hanna Will be live on KSRO at 5pm tomorrow!!

Tune to KSRO (1350AM)... "The Drive with Steve Jaxon" tomorrow at 5pm. Christine Hanna will be on the radio tomorrow tasting 3 bottles of HANNA Wine and talking about the 2012 Harvest Fair. Stay Tuned!!!
  

HANNA Sauvignon Blanc Harvest

As a child I would awaken in the pre-dawn of Autumn mornings to the purr of tractors and the rattle-bang of empty gondolas. In the still morning air, the occasional voice would carry; soon to be followed my intermittent plunks as the lugs full of grapes were dumped in the gondolas. Even though I had no involvement in the harvesting of these grapes, the significance of the event was obvious and the excitement contagious. Today, the sound of grapes going into bins still fills me with anticipation and exhilaration�especially if they are HANNA grapes!
  

Passion Fruit anyone?

Thiols are very important to Sauvignon Blanc aromas. Passion Fruit, Grapefruit, and Boxwood aromas are associated with common SB-derived thiols. Research has shown that machine harvested SB grapes produce wine with higher concentrations of the aroma-rich compounds. So, to put that theory to test, we just harvested one of our favorite SB vineyards, the Crinella Ranch, with a Pellenc harvester fitted with an optical sorter.


  

Beautiful day at HANNA in Alexander Valley

This is our view today from the veranda at HANNA in Alexander Valley. The temperature now is 78 degrees with a breeze coming through the valley. Were open for tastings all weekend 10-4, come enjoy the amazing weather and taste some amazing wines!

Wine isn't the only thing were harvesting at HANNA

This is the harvest collected from Christine Hanna's garden this morning. The most amazing organic vegetables, even the cherry tomatoes burst with so much moisture & flavor.

Harvest Breakfast !?! :O

They say a lot of beer is needed to make fine wine; but around Hanna, it's all about the coffee! Despite the omnipresent coffee pot and 10 lbs of coffee in the freezer, today someone thought we needed to mix it up with some *$$. Oh, and two like minded individuals thought we needed some sugar... lots and lots of sugar :O
  

Yay! We are done for the day!

Today's 42 tons of Slusser SB grapes yielded 7,500 gallons of scrumptious juice! All this in only 13 hours... I love it when I get to go home early!! :D
  

First big day of harvest-100 bins of Slusser Sauvignon Blanc

6:00 am: 50 bins of grapes arrived at 5:00; now, an hour later, the truck has been unloaded, the bins are being weighted and we'll soon begin loading the presses.

5:00 am: The vineyard crew has been picking since midnight, and the first truckload of the day just arrived at the winery. We plan to process about 100 1/2 ton bins of Slusser Sauvignon Blanc today. If all goes well, we will finish pressing in 14 hours. Wish us luck!
  

The vineyard crew has been picking...

The vineyard crew has been picking since midnight, and the first truckload of the day just arrived. We plan to process about 100 Read more

Come to HANNA in Alexander Valley or in Russian River Valley!!!

Come to HANNA for a tasting or even a simple picnic. It's a beautiful day in wine country to enjoy some amazing wines and look at an amazing view!

2010 Elias Chardonnay & 2011 Elias Pinot Noir

These two amazing wines are named after Dr. Elias HANNA, Christine Hanna's father. The Elias Chardonnay fruit comes from Bismark Mountain and the Elias Pinot Noir fruit comes from the Russian River Valley. Both outstanding, small production wines that you can only find here at the Winery.

Sauvignon Blanc Harvest 2012

They're here, and they're beautiful! 21 tons of Sauvignon Blanc grapes from the Springer Vineyard were harvested today at 22.5 Brix.
  
  

Happy Labor Day!

Good morning! The cellar guys get a well-deserved day off while the winemaking team samples vineyards and gears up for the soon-to-be-busy second week of harvest. Happy Labor Day!
  

33rd Annual Taste of Sonoma at MacMurray Ranch

Here is Alison and Alicia representing HANNA in the Alexander Valley Tent for Taste of Sonoma at MacMurray Ranch. There were so many people lining up for the Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and side by side comparisons of both of HANNA's amazing Cabernets. This was such a special event to attend in wine country!

Harvest 2012 Begins at Hanna

 We began  harvest this week  by picking Merlot, Malbec and Pinot noir for our Hanna Rose.   At around 20% sugar the fruit is perfect for our Provencal style Rose. The Rose fruit is typically picked a week before anything else, allowing us to spoil it into perfection before harvest becomes more like a grapey ,chaste version of Hiroshii  Teshigahara's   classic black and white film ,  "Woman of the Dunes". 

  But lest you get the wrong idea; I  borrow from another director's film (this one now a winery owner)  : " God how I love it so".