Tremani Vineyards

SUPERIOR WINE ALERT:

Today’s wine from Tremani Vineyards is a truly exceptional example of Russian River Pinot Noir. If you are a fan of Russian River Pinot or you love French Burgundies, this wine belongs in your cellar – or better yet your table

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Mission Codename: Russian Attack!

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Infiltrate Tremani Vineyards, and procure an ample allotment of their Single Vineyard Hansen Vineyard Russian River Pinot Noir

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Tremani Vineyards

Wine Subject: 2005 Hansen Vineyard Pinot Noir

Winemaker: Fred Hansen

Backgrounder: The Russian River Valley, in Sonoma County, produces Pinot Noir of remarkable distinction. The cooler meritime conditions of the region make the RRV ideal for growing Pinot Noir. Tremani’s Bynum’s extended focus on, and love for, the region means that their particular Pinot Noirs are beautifully crafted to reflect the best that the region has to offer. Read Agent Red’s mission report and tasting noted below for the full intel on this exciting wine

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Beautiful and dark with a hue that reminds me very much of a French Burgundy. Deep purple in color, this wine is is slightly darker through its heart, but maintains perfect clarity throughout. The surface of the wine is extremely taught and, when swirled, settles fast, leaving behind tightly-spaced columns of skinny legs

Smell – Lush and deep with a rich and earthy mid-intensity. The fruit shines through in this wine, delivering a tender rush of red cherry, raspberry, young strawberry, blackberry and soft pomegranate. These sit atop a delicate earthiness with soft forest floor, fresh spice, violets, cedar and a hint of tomato vine

Feel – This soft wine starts round and wet, but then gradually reveals a medium medium body with a bright acidity, velvety but slightly chewy tannins and hints of minerality

Taste – Tenderly integrated flavors of ripe red cherry, strawberry, blackberry bramble and a hint of blueberry tart. These are all tempered against hints of fresh herbs, soft spice, a lovely earthiness and hint of soft vanilla

Finish – Long and fresh, starting earthy and soft, then going more rich as the fruit lingers long after you sip. As the fruit tails off, soft spice and delicate minerality are revealed

Conclusion – A remarkable wine that we fell in love with on first sip, this Russian River Pinot Noir exhibits the best character that the region has to offer. Delicious and character-filled, this Cali-meets-Burgundy leans toward the California side, but with a distinct hint of French character that gives the wine a little something extra. Allow the wine at least 30 minutes of breathing time for maximum enjoyment. If you love great California Pinot Noir, please pick up some of this fantastic wine. With bright and juicy flavors, a tender feel and great aromatics, this wine is sure to please, now and through your holiday celebrations!

Mission Report:

This wine came to us by way of our newest Asset, codename Agent PAC.

PAC first reached out to me through back-channels some months ago. At first, I dismissed his attempts as mere chatter. His unsolicited intel briefings seemed to be a jumble of wine facts and figures. I realized, finally, that there were distinct patterns within these reports. Patterns which, when properly decoded, revealed hidden wine gems, that were well-deserving of my attention.

And so it was that I was led to today’s exceptional Russian River Pinot Noir, a wine of great character and fantastic drinkability. When I finally put all the pieces together, I paid a visit to the winery and sampled today’s wine. I was immediately struck but its beautiful nose and delicious complexity, the wine presenting a lovely balance between classic Russian River and old world Burgundy.

Agent PAC is now a trusted asset, and you’ll be sure to see more wines that are reconnoitered by him. For now, content yourself with today’s fantastic Pinot pick!

Cheers!

About This Wine:

Smoke, light tannins, rich fruit. Classic Burgundian style.

For 2005 the fruit was left on the vine until late in the season, resulting in slight berry shrivel. This meant a low juice yield and a wine with delicate flavors of raspberry, black cherry, tobacco, and some chewy tannins. The clones which we chose for this lot were 60% Pommard and 25% Dijon 115. We cold-soaked the must and utilized hand punch downs, as per our usual practice. The barrels were French oak- 50% new, 30% one-year-old, and 20% two-year-old.

About The Winery:

Tremani Vineyards is a partnership formed in 1997 by the Hansen family – sisters, Barbara and Diane and brother, Fred. For many decades our family has been an integral part of the agricultural community in Sonoma County. Our parents, Glenn and Elsie Hansen had a dairy in Petaluma and moved it to their Santa Rosa location in 1970. In 1989, Fred began broadening his agricultural interests with plantings of chardonnay, followed by pinot noir, and in 1997, Tremani Vineyards planted pinot gris and more chardonnay. Soon we were growing high quality grapes in the rich soils of the Russian River Valley appellation and selling them to area wineries.

In 2001, we decided to try our hand at making wine with our own grapes. Fred worked with local winemakers on our first vintage of pinot gris. It was such a success that we kept on going and have increased our production and sales each year since. We started making pinot noir in 2002 and are planning to make chardonnay in the near future.

Aside from growing grapes and making wine, we all lead busy lives. Fred owns Hansen Transport, Inc. and he and his wife Anna have a young and active family. Diane works for Fred and has a very busy family life with her husband Bill and their three children. Her sons Matt and Greg now operate the original dairy. Barbara is a teacher who has children and grandchildren who keep her occupied in her spare moments. Sadly, our mother passed away last October. Our father continues to live on the family ranch. We are grateful to our parents for their support of our Tremani endeavors.

Tremani Vineyards is a family affair, and we of the Hansen family believe you will enjoy the wines that we have made from the grapes grown on our farm west of Santa Rosa.

Technical Analysis:

Harvest Dates: September 2005

Blend/Composition: Clones 115 & Pomard

Fermentation: open top fermentor w/hand punch downs

Aging: French oak-1 year

Racked: once prior to bottling

Bottling Date: March 2006

Release Date: December 2007

Average Degree Brix at Harvest: 25

Titratable Acidity: 0.85 g/L

pH at Bottling: 3.7

Alcohol Level: 14.2%