An Amazing Sonoma Pinot Noir from Hansel Family Vineyards

An amazing example of a 2020 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is the Three Rows Pinot Noir by Hansel Family Vineyards. We enjoy this wine so much that we had to do an entry on it.

We stumbled upon a bottle during a recent trip to our favorite grocery store Gelson’s. What a huge wine find! Seeing it on the shelf sparked a distant memory of sharing a fabulous bottle from The Three Rows label many years ago when a friend passed the bar exam. So of course we just had to buy it.

The particulars:

Walter Hansel, Hansel Family Vineyard

2020 Three Rows Pinot Noir

Russian River Valley, California

14.3%

$40

Steve Says:

To start, this bottle is very lush, it has a big boned nature that is refreshing to find in a Pinot Noir. I found spicy strawberry on the nose with a hint of smoke. Subtle plum showed up on the pallet. It has beautiful complexity and depth as well presenting a hint of tannin (stem inclusion perhaps?) and finally a hint of dryness on the back pallet. Hansel wines have a reputation for stellar quality and at the same time being a good value, this bottle really delivers on both fronts. At $40 I think it’s a great deal. It’s a 4.5 star bottle.

Jane Says:

I have to say that the wine buyer at our local Gelson’s in Valley Village, CA, is very good. For a grocery store, they have a great selection and we seem to always enjoy our wine purchases from there, even when we’re taking a chance on a bottle. When we saw the Hansel pinot, we were so happily surprised. We had to buy it.

And when we opened it, we weren’t disappointed. I tasted bright berries and smelled pomegranate on the nose. It had a nice acidity and was a bit chewy, but in a good way. The chewiness usually means there’s tannin, which can help make a wine more complex. As it swirled in my mouth, I found the wine to be soft and velvety and quite lovely overall. 4.5 out of 5 stars.