Wine Spectator - Top 30 Pinot Wineries
December 31, 2006
Winery Location: Sebastopol, Sonoma County
Annual Pinot Noir Production: 2,000 cases
Founded: 1994
Web Site: www.chasseurwines.com
Sometimes even producers are perplexed by what a vintage has to offer. During the 2004 growing season, Chasseur winemaker and owner Bill Hunter feared the worst during a September heat wave that hammered Sonoma with 100 degree temperatures. “I thought it would be a washout. But then about a month after harvest, when tasting the wines, I was very pleased,” he says.
Hunter, 58, was right on target. Two of the five Chasseur 2004 Pinot-the Russian River Valley Sylvia’s ($52) and the Sonoma Coast Joyce ($55)-earned 95 points. Those wines come from vineyards west of Sebastopol that Hunter believes are just beginning to reveal their potential.
Yet those vineyards will be low-yielding, and prices will rise as a result, Hunter says. Many of the top sites in western Sonoma tend to experience chilly spring weather that hinders flowering and fruit-set, consequently reducing crop. In 2004, in a somewhat extreme example, the Joyce Vineyard yielded a minuscule 75 case (1.25 tons) from 3.25 acres. Still, Hunter will accept a poor crop now and again for the appropriate qualitative payoff. “Like life, it’s a trade-off. And you can get great wines from it,” he says.
-Daniel Sogg
« Back
True Wine Afficionados appreciate great Whites.
Chasseur Wines is known for not only great Pinot but also some amazing Chardonnay. Click Here for more information.