Although we started with just 257 vines we currently farm 80 acres consisting of a total of 11 different clones. All of our vineyards are contigous to each other with the winery facility situated in the center, making farming, harvesting and processing more efficient and easier to control quality.

We farm about 80 acres consisting of 6 pinot noir clones and 7 chardonnay clones, planted to 2 varieites of rootstock and trellisted in a 7 wire system that provides for a 4 to 5 foot canopy. We offer single clone and blended clone vineyard designated wines; all crafted to provide a variety of flavors.

Vineyard practices vary each year as we attempt to spar with Mother Nature, however, in general:

• We pull leaves on Chardonnay and allow a full canopy on the Western side; this provides the clusters direct cool morning sun with afternoon shade.
• We employ numerous weather stations and soil probes which provide data so we can minimize our organic spray routines and monitor the use of water.
• We control the yields by cluster thinning; we typically thin to 10-15 clusters per vine for pinot noir and 18-22 for chardonnay.
• We net the vines in the middle of August to protect from bird damage.
• All in all, we make 12 to 15 passes each year through the vineyard touching each and every vine.

Today, we have 80 acres of Estate Pinot noir and  Chardonnay consisting of 7 Pinot noir clones and 6 Chardonnay clones;each clone interacting with various soils to give a variety of flavers. We employ Old World winemaking procedures; Stressing non-intervention; follow strict vineyard practices; and haveba gereral rule that quality trumps quanity everytime.

Russian River Valley

Walter Hansel Winery is located in the Southern most portion of the Russian River Valley.This appellation is famous as one of the World's great growing regions for chardonnay and pinot noir because of the cool evenings and warm adternoons. The fog rolls in each evening and stays until mid-morning the next day; this repeats daily and can be expected for the months of June, July and the beginning of August. The cool weather pattern allows for slow ripeness; long fruit hang time; esulting in intense flovers with abundant natural acidity. 

Walter Hansel Chardonnays and Pinots are the quintessential expressions of the Russian River Valley. BEST OF ALL, these are some of the most fairly priced wines readers will find ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD": a direct quote from owner/professional wine reviewer of Vinous reported May 2019. We are currently in 25 States and located in 12 Countries.