Our Winery
Chasseur Wines is dedicated to small lot, hand-crafted wines in the old French tradition with emphasis on vineyard designates. Our small size (presently about 5,000 cases) allows complete control over the winemaking process, therefore, enabling us to produce the finest wines the fruit has to offer. We are pursuing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay's final and possibly finest frontier, Sonoma's 'West County'. Still in its renaissance this area is composed of the western edge of the Russian River Valley and beyond, known as the true Sonoma Coast appellation. We refer to this area as the west county triangle, the area between and around Sebastopol, Freestone and Occidental.
Our goal is to be among the pioneers to develop the potential of this area. Please explore our web site to learn more about how we make these wines from grape to glass. We offer all these wines, especially the smaller lots which may not make it to the retail shelf through the winery. We offer special pricing for prerelease wines. Investigate the benefits of our wine club.
Facility
The facility used for wine production is a retired apple processing plant in Sebastopol, in Sonoma’s ‘West County’. Dedicated to substance over style, the winery is likened to a lower Manhattan loft. Ideal for wine processing, the compartmentalized nature of the space provides a room for every function. Harvest operations are done in the main winery room. An interior room with natural insulation is chilled to cellar temperature and humidified for barrel storage. Wines going through malo-lactic fermentation are kept in a room that can be heated in the cold winter months - hence, the "warm room".
All the equipment and processing techniques were chosen for maximum extraction of the fruit, but with attention to gentle handling. At harvest the Chardonnays go through a long slow gentle press before going to barrel for fermentation. The Pinot Noirs are fermented in small one ton fermenters and go through a submerged cap regime to increase extraction and limit maceration of the skins. The barreled wines are racked with argon, an inert gas, and then filled by gravity. The finished wines are typically bottled without fining or filtration.
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.