Walter Hansel Winery Cuvée Alyce Chardonnay 2023

                           Walter Hansel's Cuvee Alyce Chardonnay is a beautiful, hand-crafted 100% Chardonnay from one of our favorite boutique producers down the road from Kistler. Limited. 92 Points Jeb Dunnuck:  "Named after his Stephen Hansel’s mom, the Walter Hansel 2023 Chardonnay Cuvee Alyce offers more clarity in the range and is lifted with notes of preserved lemon, apricot, honeycomb, and wet stones. It's full-bodied, with a weightless, silky texture and elegant notes of hazelnut coaxing through the palate. It's a very strong offering that should improve over the next few years. Drink 2025-2032." 92 Points Vinous: "The Walter Hansel 2023 Chardonnay Cuvée Alyce emerges from the highest-elevation section of the vineyard and is planted with an assortment of clones, including Hyde Wente, Hudson Wente and Clone 95. Oily and textured in the glass, the Alyce offers lovely textural resonance within the context of the year. Orange confit, crème brûlée, spice and a kiss of French oak linger as the 2023 blossoms with air." Robert Parker: "...This is an enviable winery run by Stephen Hansel with exceptionally high-quality Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs that he sells at modest prices, which speaks to his humility and commitment to serious wine consumers. There are more than 80 acres of estate, so it is not small, split evenly between Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. He breaks the cuvées down by their vineyard terroir/site." To put it bluntly, if you enjoy balanced, flavorful and complex Chardonnays, then Walter Hansel Winery should be on your radar... plain and simple! Winemaker Stephen Hansel crafts masterpieces year-in and year-out from his family's 75+ acres in Russian River Valley and his wines often remind us of premier cru Burgundy. The Russian River Valley is regarded as one of the best regions in the world for growing top notch Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. For that reason, it is not uncommon for prices to exceed $75-$100 for a bottle from some producers... but not this producer. Stephen Hansel knows that if wineries keep charging elevated prices, then people start to look elsewhere.

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