Do we ship to you?.
Also Recommended
Picture
Product Name
Vintage
Price
Varietal
Country
Region
Appellation
Size
Additional Discount
Original Item
2012
$38.24
Chardonnay
United States
California
Sonoma Valley
750ml
N/A
Better Price, Same Score
2020
$31.94
Chardonnay
United States
California
Sonoma Valley
750ml
12B / $31.30
Closest Match
2020
$35.64
Chardonnay
United States
California
Sonoma Valley
750ml
12B / $34.20
Best QPR in Price range
2017
$40.60
Chardonnay
United States
California
Sonoma Valley
750ml
More wines available from Walter Hansel
750ml
Bottle:
$29.87
$31.20
The 2021 Chardonnay The Meadows is a powerful, dense wine that shows a distinctly more savory side of Russian River...
750ml
Bottle:
$48.90
$49.60
The 2021 Pinot Noir Cuvée Alyce is another gorgeous wine in this range. It offers a compelling balance of fruit...
750ml
Bottle:
$41.83
$46.00
The 2021 Pinot Noir The Estate Vineyards is gracious, elegant and silky. Crushed red/purplish berry fruit, spice and...
750ml
Bottle:
$44.84
$49.60
The 2021 Pinot Noir The North Slope Vineyard pours a deep yet transparent magenta color and reveals lifted aromas of...
750ml
Bottle:
$44.90
$49.60
The 2021 Pinot Noir The South Slope Vineyard is a classic Steven Hansel wine. A rush of dark cherry, plum lavender,...
More Details
Winery
Walter Hansel
Vintage: 2012
2012 has, so far been a positive year for wineries around the world. While it may be a little too early to speak of the wines being made in the northern hemisphere, European and North American wineries have already begun reporting that their harvesting season has been generally very good, and are predicting to continue with the kind of successes they saw in 2011. However, 2012 has been something of a late year for France, due to unpredictable weather throughout the summer, and the grapes were ripening considerably later than they did in 2011 (which was, admittedly, an exceptionally early year). French wineries are claiming, though, that this could well turn out to be advantageous, as the slow ripening will allow the resulting wines to express more flavour and features of the terroir they are grown in.
The southern hemisphere has seen ideal climatic conditions in most of the key wine producing countries, and Australia and New Zealand particularly had a superb year, in particular with the Bordeaux varietal grapes that grow there and which love the humidity these countries received plenty of. Also enjoying a fantastic year for weather were wineries across Argentina and Chile, with the Mendoza region claiming that 2012 will be one of their best vintages of the past decade. Similar claims are being made across the Chilean wine regions, where Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon had an especially good year. These two grape varietals also produced characterful wines on the coastal regions of South Africa this year.
Varietal: Chardonnay
Of all the white wine grape varietals, surely the one which has spread the furthest and is most widely appreciated is the Chardonnay. This green skinned grape is now grown all over the Old and New Worlds, from New Zealand to the Americas, from England to Chile, and is one of the first varietals people think of when considering white wine grapes. Perhaps this is because of its huge popularity which reached a peak in the 1990s, thanks to new technologies combining with traditional methods to bring the very best features out of the Chardonnay grape, and allow its unique qualities to shine through. Most fine Chardonnay wines use a process known as malolactic fermentation, wherein the malic acids in the grape juice are converted to lactic acids, allowing a creamier, buttery nature to come forward in the wine. No grape varietal is better suited to this process than Chardonnay, which manages to balance these silky, creamy notes with fresh white fruit flavors beautifully.
Region: California
When it comes to New World wine regions, it is widely agreed that many of the finest wines are grown and produced in California. The long stretches of coastline and the valleys and mountainsides which come off them are ideal areas for vine cultivation, and for over a century now, wineries have found a perfect home in the hot, dry state, with many of the wines produced here going on to reach world class status. The state is greatly helped by the brisk oceanic winds which cool the otherwise hot and dry vineyards, which hold mineral rich soils covering vast areas and featuring many established wineries. The state is split into four main regions, the largest by far being the central valley which stretches over three hundred miles in length.
Country: United States
For three hundred years now, the United States has been leading the New World in wine production, both in regards to quantity and quality. Wine is actually produced in all fifty states across the country, with California leading the way by an enormous margin. Indeed, as much as eighty-nine percent of all wines to come out of the United States are produced in California, where the fertile soils and sloping mountain sides, coupled with the long, hot summers provide ideal conditions for producing high quality, European style red, white and rosé wines. With over a million acres of the country under vine, the United States sits comfortably as the fourth largest wine producer in the world, where imported grape varietals from all over the Old World are processed using a successful blend of traditional and contemporary techniques.
Appellation: Sonoma Valley
Often referred to as the 'birthplace of Californian wines', the beautiful and expansive Sonoma Valley has long been seen as something of a vibrant and beating heart within the American wine industry. The 'valley of the moon', as it is affectionately known, benefits enormously from the blazing Californian sunshine it receives throughout the long, hot and dry summers, and exceptionally warm autumns in which the vast array of grape varietals found there ripen. Sonoma Valley is most famous for big, full-bodied and flavorful red wine grapes, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as many excellent white wine grapes. Due to the volcanic soils of the region, fed by thermal springs packed full of minerals, the soil is wonderfully fertile and capable of supporting a wide variety of grape species.