At our wine tastings, we offer a selection of 8 wines that are not available in stores. The wines continue to draw accolades for their expression of quality and originality. These are all small production wines that are handcrafted by us. 

You’ll also explore the benefit of the perfect food and wine pairings to lift and enhance the wine tasting experience. Each of our wines are paired with local artisan delectables, from organic cheeses to Pinot-infused chocolates.

Our Sonoma Wine Tasting Menu

White Wine Tasting Flight

We begin with our mouth-watering 2020 Chardonnay Sobre Vista Vineyard. Complex notes of apple, pear and citrus with a hint of salinity on the back of the palate. It’s paired with dried Turkish style apricots that Halleck sources from a local purveyor only a few miles from the vineyard. The most austere of our white wines, this isn’t your typical buttery, oaky style California Chardonnay. Medium-bodied, bright, crisp, and low alcohol. This last point distinguishes Halleck from its neighbors, as higher alcohol white wines are often the norm all across Sonoma. 

The second wine you’ll taste is our 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Patient Terrier Vineyard. There’s a classic Sauvignon Blanc nose of lemon, mountain flowers, and a touch of sea breeze. Paired with a Fontina style cheese from Valley Ford Cheese & Creamery in Sonoma County. The soft, mild bitterness of the cheese smooths out the bright acids of the Sauvignon Blanc. Melt-in-your-mouth fantastic. It’s quite distinct from the bigger and broader California Sauvignon Blancs of Napa and Sonoma County. The feral nose gives way to classic neutral citrus notes on the palate. Its high and bright acidity electrifies the cheeks, and one can taste why this comes after the intricate and mellow Chardonnay. There’s a mid-palate of flinty minerality, a hint of tart pineapple, passion fruit, and salinity on the finish. Rich and snappy. 

The third white you’ll try at our Sebastopol wine tastings is our 2021 Dry Gewurztraminer Calandrelli Vineyard. Voted Best of Show (White Wine) at the North Coast Wine Challenge. When I lived in Kenya as a young man, I’d frequent the local Indian restaurants. Some would pair their dishes with Gewurztraminer served in a martini glass. And I couldn’t believe that party that could happen in your mouth. For our wine, there’s an expressive nose of lychee, wet stone, rose petals, and a hint of vanilla. Gentle, succulent, and with a racy minerality on the mid-palate. The nose carries on tongue with more flavors of lychee, rose petals, and a touch of floral and ginger. A lingering finish of fine spice, with an illusion of sweetness from the fruit tones. A beguiling mix of bone-dry and lucious. Stunning match for our signature dish, an organic curry quinoa with cilantro, jalapeno, onions, and baked tofu. But keep in mind, these are single-bite tastes, not a full meal. 

The fourth wine you’ll taste before moving on to our red wines is our palette cleansing 2019 Dry White Zinfandel. This pink wine has an expressive nose not usually found in rosés. We pair our White Zin with a strong Gorgonzola cheese and the flavors blend and burst deliciously on the palette, neither dominating the other. It is full of floral notes and delicate fruit. Playful acidity blends with minerality on the mid-palate. Subtle flavors of cherry, rose petals, with hints of apricot. The refreshing finish lingers and cleanses with floral fruit.

Red Wines Tasting Flight

The fifth wine we serve is our 2018 Three Sons Cuvee Pinot Noir. Garnet color, jewel-like in its transparency, color and brilliance. Leads with aromas of cherries, including a hint of spice, cinnamon, pepper. This is paired with a hard cheese in the style of Manchego and Cheddar. This Russian River Valley Pinot delivers with a full-frontal assault, however delicate and refined. The red fruit combines with the spice, then delivers an earthiness, even minerality, on the mid-palate that fills the mouth. There’s a long lingering finish of both black and white pepper, trailing with fruit notes. This is 

The six wine poured is our 2018 Haas Vineyard Pinot Noir. There’s a rich, ripe texture and structure of the fruit. It is more luxurious than the Hillside Cuvee, displaying the finest qualities of Sonoma Mountain, which is a warmer terrior (sp?). . Leads with full rich flavors of cherry, a mid-palate of minerals and spice with a long rich finish. Bouncy and silky texture. It never sits still and hits all the pleasure points on the palette. Paired with chocolate infused with our very own Pinot Noir. The sweetness of the dish is matched perfectly by the fruit in the wine. 

The seventh wine you’ll try is our Sonoma Coast 2017 Hillside Cuvee Vineyard Pinot Noir. We pair this wine with a local triple cream truffle brie. The savory and earthy quality of the cheese dampens the bright fruit and acidity of the wine. A symphony on the palette. It’s bright and lifted rather than round and smooth like the Haas. Enlivens the palette a bit more. Leads with aromas of red fruit and earthiness and hints of fresh cranberry. The wine carries through the mouth smoothly and fully. It delivers equal parts red fruit, minerality and white pepper, with a touch of that earthiness hinted in the nose. It finishes with spiciness and fruit for a long lingering finish. 

The last red you’ll taste is our flagship wine, the 2016 Estate Grown Pinot Noir. It earned #1 Pinot in the US (in 2001) and recently received 95 points from Anthony Dias Blue of The Tasting Panel. A tour de force of bright cranberry, tart pomegranate, orange zest, sage brush, and alpine liqueur leap out of the glass. All balanced by the grounding scents of earth and minerals. The palate is similarly complex, with a menagerie of red fruits, savory herbs, baking spices, and rich peat. Exquisitely structured with unctuous tannins and balanced acidity. The finish is long and lasting, with spice and sweet herbs reminiscent of the holidays. Great enough savor on its own.

The Finish

There’s no esoteric viticulture babble at our Sebastopol wine tasting experience. Join us for a comfortable, casual, and familial environment to celebrate and enjoy the love of great wine. Although wine tasting is always a very personal journey, we have a lot of fun guiding the experience. Be prepared to learn and explore, so you can determine for yourself which wines breathe magic into your glass and soul.

We bought bottles of the same vintage and sipped all four. If you’re looking for the best Pinot Noir wine for your money, read on. In this article we characterize the taste of this variety of red wines to help you pick the right Pinot Noir.

If you’re looking for the best Pinot Noir in America, Meiomi, Belle Glos and La Crema are the biggest brands. Each of them make from 700,000 to 1.2 million cases of Pinot each year. A case of wine contains 12 bottles.

We are a much smaller winery. Our Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley Pinot Noir wines have received top scores and numerous awards. And we make fewer than 1,500 cases per year. Even if we wanted to, we could never satisfy the global demand for Pinot Noir. That’s where bulk wines do the heavy lifting. Our Pinot Noirs have very limited availability.

But as a family owned winery specializing in Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, we wanted to give you some guidance. Use this guide to decide which of the 3 most popular Pinot Noir wines and regions are right for you.

Wine Reviews [Video]

Meiomi Pinot Noir (non vintage)

Meiomi is the most searched Pinot brand in the US. This Pinot is made from grapes from the Central Valley of California. The warm, dry conditions in this part of California and much hotter than the climate in Burgundy, France. For this reason, the area is much more conducive to higher grape yields. These harvests support bulk Pinot Noir wine production.

So Meiomi is a bulk Pinot Noir, and it is also the darkest of the pinots we sampled for this review. Pinot Noir wine is typically not as dark or opaque as the Meiomi Pinot. In terms of the aroma, the Meiomi Pinot was our least favorite of the three we tasted. We hate to say it, but the Meiomi Pinot smells like industrial plastic and mass-produced chewy candy, like Twizzlers or Skittles.

But if you can get past the nose of this Pinot, this pinot is super smooth. Meiomi is a rich, luscious pinot with a delicate plum and berry finish. If we had to rank the Meiomi Pinot against the Belle Glos and La Crema, it’s the weakest of the three. But if you’d like to try it yourself, wine.com is selling a Meiomi 2017 Pinot Noir (375ML half-bottle) for 14.99.

• Vintage: n/a
• AVA: California
• Meiomi Pinot Noir Alcohol Content: 13.7%
• Retail Price: $25
• Restaurant Price: $63 (approx.)
• Buy Meiomi Pinor Noir

Belle Glos Pinot Noir (2019)

If you compare the color of Pinot vs Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot is not quite as dark in color and is more translucent. We savored the Belle Glos Dairyman Pinot which has a deep dark purple and almost opaque color that promises richness and boldness. And its aroma definitely delivers.

Pour an ounce into a proper Pinot or Burgundy wine glass and twirl it around, so it opens up. You’ll find the Belle Glos Pinot delivers an almost meaty, savory aroma. Its smell includes touches of spice, raisins with a hint of violets.

The Belle Glos Pinot Noir is just as powerful in the mouth as it is in the nose. This really is the mark of any good wine, be it an award winner or not. You don’t want smell a pinot and be impressed, only to drink it and be disappointed.

Made with grapes from the Russian River Valley, a cool coastal climate with dense fog, Belle Glos strikes a nice balance between what you expect and what it delivers. And now through the holidays, you can get a lovely Belle Glos 2017 Clark and Telephone Vineyard Pinot Noir (1.5 Liter Magnum) for just $99.97.

For being such a bold red wine, the Belle Glos is also very smooth. Wines with a higher alcohol content are typically bolder or “hotter”. The heat from a higher alcohol wine can be abated by pairing with a meal.

• Vintage: 2017
• AVA: Russian River Valley
• Bella Glos Pinot Noir Alcohol Content: 14.6%
• Retail Price: $59
• Restaurant Price: $147
• Buy Bella Glos Pinot Noir

La Crema Pinot Noir (2018)

La Crema Pinot Noir is based in Sonoma County, but they make several Pinots from grapes from the Monterey and Sonoma regions of California. And they recently introduced a new one from Willamette Valley in Oregon. But we didn’t review the new one. Instead, we sampled their Monterey Pinot, which is one of their older offerings.

The color of this La Crema Pinot Noir Willamette Valley is much truer to what you’d expect from a California Pinot. It is translucent and garnet red in color. The aroma of La Crema is very earthy. It smells almost untamed and has a subtle skunk note that’s hard to ignore. Many wine lovers actually prefer this quality in a wine, which is called animal or savauge in France. The La Crema doesn’t have much fruit in its aroma.

But the La Crema Pinot Noir delivers much more fruit flavor than its aroma. This wine has a nice candied sour cherry style to it. La Crema is probably not the best to serve as a cocktail wine because it does have a faint, lingering bitter aftertaste. Because of that, the La Crema really does demand that food be served with it. In fact, it would be quite nice paired with a rack of lamb, filet mignon or perhaps other dish in that range. But in our opinion, the tannins are not well integrated. We reviewed the La Crema Monterey Pinot Noir in another post.

• Vintage: 2019
• AVA: Monterey
• La Crema Pinot Noir Alcohol Content: 13.5%
• Retail Price: $18.00
• Restaurant Price: approximately $45.00
• Food Pairings: Veal, pork loin and braised lamb
• Buy 2018 La Cream Pinot Noir

Halleck Vineyard Hillside Cuvee Pinot Noir (2018)

The Halleck Vineyard Pinot Noir we drank alongside the Meiomi, Belle Glos and La Crema was our Hillside Cuvee Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.

This wine is 100% Pinot Noir, a blend of Sonoma Coast vineyards that’s reminiscent of a fine French Burgundy. Like Belle Glos, this Pinot is also made in Sonoma Coast, a popular American Viticultural Area for growing Pinot Noir.

In terms of color, this Halleck Vineyard Pinot Noir is not quite as dark and opaque as the Meiomi. But it’s also not as light and translucent as the La Crema. So the color of the Hillside Cuvee is about midway between those two popular Pinots. But it’s more ruby than garnet red, like La Crema.

The aroma of the Halleck Vineyard Hillside Cuvee Pinot Noir is earthy, with a hint tart cranberries and pomegranate. And it has a dash of white pepper, making it the most complex of these four Pinot Noirs. The Halleck Vineyard Hillside Cuvee aroma is brighter than the other three red wines. It has a more acidic lift, making it a good choice with or without a meal.

In terms of flavor, this pinot also has hints of raspberry. The brightness carries through with earthiness and fine tannins in the mid-palate. The finish is long and rich combined with emerging cherry, gentle minerality, lustrous acidity and lingering white pepper.

• Vintage: 2013
• AVA: Sonoma Coast
• Halleck Vineyard Hillside Cuvee Alcohol Content: 14.3%
• Retail Price: $49
• Restaurant Price: $122
• Buy Halleck Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Pinot Heros Wrap Up

Since we make wines that appeal to our own liking, we usually do prefer our own wines. These pinots all deliver their own, unique experience. If you want a fruity Pinot Noir wine for a modest price, the Meiomi might be your choice.

If you’re looking for an extra smooth wine and are okay with a higher alcohol content, try the Belle Glos. It satisfies with or without food.

If you’d like a more earthy wine with less fruit, try the La Crema Pinot Noir.

And if you’d like to try a more complex, dimensional wine, try Halleck Vineyard Hillside Cuvee. But which ever you select, we hope you enjoy it! And as promised, our Kosta Browne Pinot Noir review is live now too.

We plan to do reviews Mark West, Elouan and Erath next. New Zealand is producing some very interesting Pinots these days, and we’d like to know more about them.

That estate is Halleck Vineyard.

But when Ross and Jennifer Halleck, the co-founders of Halleck Vineyard, originally planted their Estate Vineyard in 1993, their goals were not lofty.

According to Ross: “We thought it would be beautiful, relatively inexpensive landscaping and we could make ‘backyard garage wine.’ In the best of all worlds we could sell it and have some left over as a college fund for our infant son. That was the big vision.”

Little did they know their hobby would become a hallmark of success.

Today, Halleck Vineyard is synonymous with the very best Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.

But what makes this sublime glass of wine the best Pinot Noir wine in California? And what is Pinot Noir wine in the first place? It’s time to take a look at the origins of Halleck Vineyard Pinot Noir, from the fickle fruit to the hard-earned fame.

What is Pinot Noir wine?

Pinot Noir is a crowd-pleaser. In fact, it’s the most popular light-bodied red wine in the world. It’s smooth, seductive, versatile, and bound to elevate any date or dining experience.

Characterized by spicy aromas, silky tannins, bursts of red fruit flavors and a long, smooth finish, Pinot Noir is a delight for the senses. When comparing Pinot Noir vs Cabernet Sauvignon, a Pinot is more elegant and subtle, while a Cab has more tannic bite and boldness.

Pinot Noir tasting notes can vary greatly from place to place. Sonoma Pinot Noir in particular is known for being fruitier, spicier, and bolder than its siblings from other regions.

What to expect while drinking: tasting notes and more

Take a sip of the best Pinot Noir in Sonoma County and let the sensual experience of velvety raspberry, vanilla, cherry, and allspice unfold.

With such fruity notes, you might be wondering “is Pinot Noir sweet or dry?” But rest assured that Pinot Noir wine, even a particularly fruity one, is a squarely dry red wine.

Delicately nuanced and multi-faceted, Pinot Noir is the wine to reach for in nearly any situation. It’s a delightful pairing for everything from your holiday roast to a white pizza or a freshly-caught salmon dinner. The lower tannins and higher acidity in Pinot Noir wine make it a pleasure to drink with white meats too.

Pinot Noir grapes and growing regions

It may be light in body. But, as you can see, Pinot Noir is a hard-hitter of the red wine world when it comes to versatility.

But the same cannot be said for Pinot Noir’s growing regions.

Pinot Noir grapes need exacting conditions to flourish – conditions only found in a few select regions around the globe.

Picky Pinot Noir grapes need lots of sunshine, but not too much heat or they will shrivel up and raisin. They need a cool climate, but not too cold or they will develop diseases.

As if that weren’t complicated enough, Pinot Noir grapes need constant protection from pests and well-draining soil, and the harvesting window is incredibly short.

Finding the perfect Pinot Noir growing region is like finding a needle haystack. Lucky for Halleck Vineyard, the Sonoma Coast is that one-in-a-million gem.

So what exactly is it about the Sonoma Coast that allows its vintners to produce the best Pinot Noir wine time and time again?

Let’s explore this highly revered region and discuss what sets Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir apart from the pack.

What makes Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir so special?

The Sonoma Coast region is the holy grail for Pinot Noir wine. The cool air that rolls off the Pacific coast is a natural air conditioner. It protects the delicate grapes and extends the growing season by up to 20 percent over Burgundy, the Old World hallmark of Pinot Noir.

Our very own Russian River Valley in particular is perfect for Pinot Noir wine. This small AVA has a staggering range of soil diversity thanks to many centuries of volcanic activity. The soil contains varying levels of clay, minerals, and sandy soils that are particularly well-draining and pure gold for Pinot.

Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is stunningly luscious and bold, with a mouthful of fruit flavors often associated with Syrahs. But these Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir wines are simply what other Pinot Noirs dream of being. They are Pinots elevated beyond belief.

A unique climate is the perfect home for a glass of red

This flavor-packed glass of red wine isn’t only thanks to the soil and sea though. The fog may be one of the major contributors to the enhanced quality of Sonoma Pinot Noir.

Every evening, a thick blanket of fog envelops the Sonoma Coast regions and nestles into the Russian River Valley. The Pinot Noir grapes are swaddled and protected by this misty shroud. It also keeps temperatures low, converting the afternoon sun into a warm caress instead of a cause for concern.

It takes a perfect mix of climate conditions and the dedicated work of vintners who truly care about their crop. But thanks to this combo, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs are some of the best bottles of red wine you can find.

Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is truly alive with acidity, bright berry notes, and robust tannins. It’s the very boldest of Pinot Noir wines – and an experience every red wine connoisseur should try at least once in their life.

Because you haven’t truly experienced Pinot Noir until you’ve had the best Pinot Noir in Sonoma County.

It’s no wonder that Ross and Jennifer Halleck decided to call this Pinot Noir paradise home.

From humble origins to fame: the story of Halleck Vineyard

In 1990, Ross and Jennifer Halleck moved to the Sebastopol Hills in the Russian River Valley. There, they purchased a house, not knowing that it would become home to award-winning wines.

But the passion was there. Ross had spent years working in marketing for vineyards and Jennifer had worked in sales for Kosta Brown. So they both had a love of wine and agriculture.

Jennifer researched some rootstocks at local nurseries. She happened upon a single entry in the Yellow Pages from John Caldwell. And that call would change the fate of her family forever.

In 1992, Ross and Jennifer sampled some barrel samples of Pinot Noir from John. They fell in love with the Dijon clones 667, 777, and 115 – and these were the grapes that started it all.

The Hallecks started planting these grapes the following year.

A family legacy began

The Halleck family estate was one of the first vineyards planted in the Sebastopol Hills, and the very first in western Sebastopol.

At the time Ross and Jennifer didn’t have a clue what they were doing. They were just hoping to earn some side cash to contribute to their son, Connor’s, college education in the distant future.

But the vineyard was hard work, and it wouldn’t be an instant success. According to Ross:

“The vineyard produced fruit, but it was meager and took much longer than expected. It was six years before it bore a commercial crop. We had three sons by then. It seemed an unlikely college fund.”

But the land had something special, and Ross and Jennifer were determined.

The first harvest – and the first taste of success

Getting the brunt of the seaside breeze, Halleck’s home was the coolest region in the Sonoma Coast. It also had some of the most clay-heavy soils, making it a truly unique wine-growing opportunity. It was bound to bear fruit.

And at last, the vineyard was ready for the first harvest in 1999. The Hallecks sold the harvest to a small winemaker for blending, and received a few cases of the pre-blended wine back as a gift.

Then things started to get interesting:

“We met Greg Lafollette. Greg had become a winemaking rock star with the meteoric rise of Flowers, the first “cult winery” in western Sonoma County. Greg’s kids were in elementary school with our kids. After a parent-teacher conference one evening, I gave Greg a bottle of our first vintage to get his opinion.”

The next morning, Ross received a call from Greg at the crack of dawn. He asked to buy the grapes and make a Halleck Vineyard designate the very next year. He was starting a winery called Tandem, and he wanted the Hallecks on board.

In its very first vintage, the 2001 Tandem, Halleck Vineyard was judged the number one Pinot Noir in the United States.

The Hallecks were certainly on to something, and their success didn’t stop there.

Crafting the very best Pinot Noir

Bolstered by the success of their first vintage, the Halleck Vineyard brand began in 2002. The goal was no longer simply to put the boys through school. It was now to usher the spirit of the land into every bottle of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, and to truly perfect the craft.

In 2003, Halleck Vineyard won the first place prize at the Pinot Noir Summit for their 2001 Estate Grown Pinot.

And the awards kept rolling in. Every wine that Halleck Vineyard produced brought in scores of medals.

A timeline of Halleck Vineyard awards

In 2009, the Estate Grown Pinot Noir earned a perfect rating, “Extraordinary” from nationally syndicated columnist, Dan Berger. Dan stated, “If I judged wines on a 100 point scale, I wouldn’t take a single point away from this wine.”

Nearly a decade later, in 2018, Somm Journal Magazine named Halleck Vineyard as one of the top 5 vineyards in all of Sonoma County.

And, in 2019, many of the Halleck wines were judged Best In Class multiple times. They were recognized in the SF Chronicle Wine Competition, Sunset Magazine, the California State Fair, and by the Orange County Wine Society.

Finally, in 2020, Halleck Vineyard earned the Double Gold at the SF Chronicle Wine Competition. This solidified their Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir’s position at the very top of the pack.

Now, Halleck Vineyard was becoming a household name in the Pinot Noir world.

The original 2001 vintage of the Estate Grown Pinot Noir quickly became a highly sought after glass of wine. The Hallecks sold a bottle of it to a collector for $2500!

You can see how very special a bottle of Halleck Vineyard Pinot Noir must be. Ross and Jennifer have poured their love for the craft into their wine bottles, and the result is nothing short of spectacular.

“Our Halleck Vineyard Pinot Noir remains the flagship of our fleet of wines. It is complex, boasting a nose of earth, fruit and spice in equal measure. The earth tones might be what one would expect of a Gran Cru Burgundy. But the deep red fruit notes are definitely of a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. It’s certainly not a competition, as the wine delivers in full measure on both counts. Then it surprises with spice, minerals and white pepper as it unfolds and unfolds in a long languorous and mouth-watering finish.”

So are you ready for a taste?

Try Halleck Vineyard’s award-winning Pinot Noir for yourself!

If you’d like to try this sought-after Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir wine, you have plenty of options. For a single delivery, you can purchase a bottle or two online and have them waiting at your doorstep in a couple of days. Or you can sign up for our wine subscription to make sure you always have your favorite wine stocked.

Want something more intimate?

Make it a date by joining us for Sonoma wine tasting with a loved one. Or delve into wine culture by becoming a part of the Inner Circle, Halleck Vineyard’s very own Inner Circle, their wine club.

Regardless of the option you choose, we invite you to join the Halleck Vineyard community. It’s a community that Ross and Jennifer have lovingly cultivated, and constantly give back to.

And when you join Halleck Vineyard, you join family.

We make Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Dry Gewürztraminer, Dry White Zinfandel and California Sauvignon Blanc, also from the Russian River Valley.

We hosted our first wine tasting at our estate in Sonoma County in 2002.

Before the pandemic, the wine tasting rooms in Sonoma and Napa were thriving. Not anymore.

Virtual Wine tasting has become a pivot for wineries challenged by shifts in travel, protocol, and concern for the safety of their guests.

At Halleck Vineyard, our challenge was to keep the experience as intimate as possible, aligned with making a personal connection with everyone who enjoys our wine.

Within days of the shelter-In-place mandate, we created a virtual tasting room that was like none other.

And we’ve continued to improve it since. We’ve been written about in Forbes, Walnut Creek Magazine and 7×7.

Our Virtual Tasting Salons are designed not only to bring the vineyard to you, but to offer a tasting experience paired with organic delectables created by local artisan producers. As part of our California Wine Club, we’ve explored food pairing with Pinot Noir wines, Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and many others.

With Stephanie Culen, Certified Sommelier, I’ve been hosting tastings of our wines paired with a selection of specialties sourced from local purveyors of the finest food items.

Artisan olive oils, boutique cheeses, organic house-made pastas of garden vegetables, and hand-made organic chocolate truffles infused with Halleck Vineyard wine are expertly paired with individual wines.

Having been awarded the best Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir in the United States for our 2001 vintage, we’ve enjoyed a following of Pinot enthusiasts to our door since. In 2019, we were judged Best of Class, the best Russian River Valley Pinot Noir in North America, for two of our wines in the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. And Sunset Magazine awarded our Sauvignon Blanc Best of Class in the United States. To top it off, the California State Fair awarded our Dry Gewurztraminer 99 Points and deemed it Best Micro White Wine in California.

Virtual Wine Tasting Party

Our intention with these intimate virtual wine tastings is to bridge the gap imposed by the pandemic and our inability to see those most important to us, face-to-face. We host families, friends across the country, and even corporate colleagues, all separated by the inability to travel, to enjoy these experiences together, from the comfort of their homes. We offer to keep groups together for their own private experience or blend people who join for the simple pleasure of meeting new people and sharing an experience.

With the local bar off-limits, we’ve found people thrilled to meet over a glass of wine. Or delighted to connect with family members in an event bringing them together. Companies are rewarding their top-performers or gifting cherished business partners, creating experiences money-can’t-buy over a glass of wine with the vintner. There is nothing that can substitute for a hug, a warm touch, or a look into the eyes of someone we care about. But we’re finding this hunger nourished over a glass of wine, laughter, and warm conversation. We’re attempting to create an intimate experience within the confines of our limitations.

Virtual Wine Tasting Kits

So we meet people where they are, literally. That means wherever they’re comfortable; we ask them to pull up a chair, a glass, and a computer. We encourage people to put their feet up and enjoy the experience.

That the experience takes place at home eliminates any concerns we currently experience in public places. Feeling safe is the first threshold to achieving intimacy.

Also, to meet the broadest set of needs, we offer three Virtual Wine Tasting Kits:

Essential Wine Tasting Kit

For those simply wanting to explore Halleck Vineyard wines, to learn about the place, our family, the vineyard, and our community, we offer our Essential package. This includes a selection of three wines: Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, California Sauvignon Blanc. We add our professional sommelier wine opener, and some reference material to use during our tasting together. People select a date and time of preference on our online calendar to make the reservation. We then collect shipping and credit card information to send the pack

age. We ask for two weeks between order and scheduling, but can accommodate shorter timeframes if requested personally and shipping allows.

After receipt of a beautiful selection of wines, I and/or Stephanie will meet our guests on Zoom to guide them through this intimate wine tasting experience. To bring people to the vineyard, we present slides of Halleck Vineyard, this wonderful home and vineyard along with stories, descriptions and instruction of how to most deeply appreciate each of the wines. We hope to impart a deeper understanding of what goes in the winemaking, but more importantly the mystical nature of our role in its creation. We explore how to taste, introducing our guests to tasting techiniques, perhaps for the very first time.

Deluxe Wine Tasting Kit

For those desiring a full tasting seminar, introduction to our wines and some absolutely delicious delectables provided by like-kind artisan producers, we offer our Deluxe package. Again, there’s a selection of three wines: : Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, California Sauvignon Blanc.

Also included is a sampling of personally selected pairings with some extraordinary products. Our olive oils are sourced from a family in the Sierra foothills, growing olive trees and making award-winning oil for over 20 years. Our Sonoma County cheeses are produced by a family just down the street, who’ve been raising cows and making cheese for generations. We have chocolate truffles infused with our Russian River Valley Pinot Noir by one of the most celebrated chocolatiers in California, right in our home-town of Sebastopol.

We not only walk through the wines, sharing tidbits and stories, but we take our guests on an exploratory journey of their palate with flavors never experienced. For many, this is truly tasting for the very first time.

Ultimate Wine Tasting Kit

Our Ultimate package includes everything described in our deluxe with a significant addition.

We offer our guests a Coravin Model 1 or 3. For those unfamiliar, the Coravin is a wine preservation system that allows one to enjoy our wines, and every wine in their cellar, on an “as desired” basis. Simply, one can enjoy a glass or a taste anytime desired and the wine will remain fresh, as if never opened, for months. This device, which has revolutionized the wine industry, allows one to start the evening with a glass of rosé or white, and continue with two different reds without committing to the entire bottle. Due to a special partnership with enjoy with the manufacturer, we’re thrilled to share it with our community at a price available nowhere else.

All said these Wine Tasting Experiences are the most extensive, intensive, fun, and intimate that we know of. Our wish is to build community through wine, and in doing so, contributing in our small way to making the world a better place.

Since we had three sons, all artists, all having attended public schools, the fit was synchronistic. We happily agreed.

During our first blending session with Josh in our Sebastopol winery, we lined all the barrels on a cement slab to taste through. We instructed Josh to choose his favorite. From there, we would build the blend for the Find Your Light Pinot Noir from our other vineyards. He selected the Haas Vineyard barrel from all others.

This has become the foundation of this wine, blended with The Farm and contributions from other stunning Halleck Vineyard wines.

There had never been a Pinot Noir vineyard planted in western Sebastopol, all the way to the coast. We were the first; we proceeded without a clue what we were doing. We purchased the rootstock from the Yellow Pages.

We thought it would be beautiful, relatively inexpensive landscaping and we could make “backyard garage wine.” In the best of all worlds, assuming the fruit good enough, we could sell it, pay for the agriculture, and have some left over as a college fund for our infant son. That was the big vision.

The vineyard produced fruit, but it was meager and took much longer than expected. It was six years before it bore a commercial crop. We had three sons by then. It seemed an unlikely college fund.

We sold it for blending to a small winemaker. He graciously made a couple of cases of the pre-blended wine from our vineyard as a gift. This is a courtesy often extended by winemakers to their growers.

Then we met Greg Lafollette. Greg had become a winemaking rock star with the meteoric rise of Flowers, the first “cult winery” in western Sonoma County. He oversaw the building of the winery and managed the winemaking for the Flowers family.

Greg’s kids were in elementary school with our kids. After a parent-teacher one evening, I gave Greg a bottle of our first vintage to get his opinion.

He called at dawn the next morning with an offer to buy our grapes and make a Halleck Vineyard designate the very next year. He was starting a winery called Tandem. We couldn’t have been more thrilled.

It’s first vintage, the 2001 Tandem, Halleck Vineyard Pinot Noir was judged #1 Pinot Noir in the US in 2002. This launched Halleck Vineyard. We have never since entered it in any competitions. There’s simply not enough.

In 2009, Dan Berger, respected and nationally syndicated columnist, declared it worthy of 100 points. In 2018, Somm Journal Magazine put Halleck Vineyard in the top 5 vineyards in all Sonoma County. One bottle of our 2001 vintage, our first, sold last year to a collector for $2500. He had tasted it at our annual Harvest Party.

In 2014, Canadian shaman Ari Nelson, worked with me in burying crystals within the vineyard to “grid” an area for enhanced energy and growth. We performed a ritual ceremony to introduce the crystals to the vines. This dedication to the mystical nature of agriculture has always been a cornerstone to our efforts. Though not biodynamic, our vineyard was the first organic vineyard in western Sonoma County.

Our Halleck Vineyard, Pinot Noir, remains the flagship of our fleet of wines. It is complex, boasting a nose of earth, fruit and spice in equal measure. It’s hard-telling whether the lead are earth tones one would expect of a Gran Cru Burgundy, or the deep red fruit notes of a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. It’s certainly not a competition, as the wine delivers in full measure on both counts. Then it surprises with spice, minerals and white pepper as it unfolds and unfolds in a long languorous and mouth-watering finish. Time for another sip.

One of the big fish in our neighborhood was a gentleman named Brice Cutrer Jones. He founded Sonoma Cutrer, a poster child for success in the region. Sonoma Cutrer was known for Chardonnay. In 1999, he sold Sonoma Cutrer to Brown Forman, an American alcoholic beverage giant represented in 170 countries. He took the money, founded another winery in Sebastopol, Emeritus, and planted Pinot Noir vineyards in aging apple orchards.

Adventurous by nature, in 2000 Brice planted the very first Pinot Noir Dijon Clone 828, originating from Dijon, France. He had a small vineyard on the northern Sonoma Coast. In 2004 the movie Sideways was released and Pinot Noir became a craze. Having been judged the #1 Pinot in the US in 2002 put Halleck Vineyard on the Pinot map.

Brice’s first crop of Clone 828 Pinot Noir was ready in 2006, prior to his winery, Emeritus. He selected a half dozen of the best winemakers in our neighborhood and offered the fruit at a bargain price. Of course, none of us knew if it was a bargain or not. No one had made wine from this vineyard before, nor this clone.

We were flattered to be included, though little could we afford this gamble. But we bit.
Our 2006 Clone 828 was one of the most dazzling wines to come from Halleck Vineyard. It sold out quickly and we anticipated getting it again. We were disappointed.

Brice bought cases from all the winemakers to whom he sold fruit and used the results to craft his own wines for Emeritus. Discouraging further, there was no Clone 828 to be had anywhere. It was just too new. Farmers are conservative, as a rule. They’re not looking for the latest Dijon Clones to consume valuable real estate. They want grapes with a track record and a predictable market.

However, with the colossal impact of the movie, Sideways, people were planting Pinot Noir everywhere. Normally it would take a generation for a new Clone, sold in nurseries to wineries, to create a footprint in a region. There are about 20 clones of Pinot Noir being used for wine in the US. Demand for new clones is generally low. Due to the movie, however, Clone 828 flew out of the nurseries into the ground with all the other clones, cleaning out the nurseries for years running.

By 2013, a small vineyard right on Burnside Road had Clone 828 available for sale. We purchased that fruit right out-of-the-gate. Unfortunately, the craze for Pinot continued, and that vineyard was sold to a large Napa Valley winery just two years later. Scouring the area, we were able to locate yet another vineyard of Clone 828 nearby. We immediately drew up a contract and have secured that fruit for the future. It continues to make a stunning wine. We’re the only American winery to make a single vineyard, single clone wine of this grape.

Our 2015 vintage earned a Double Gold. Then our 2016 vintage was judged #1 Pinot Noir in North America in the 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine competition.

The 2017 is equally outstanding!

For Hillside Cuvee, we sourced vineyards close to the Halleck Vineyard Estate, of similar elevation and character. Our desire was to express our region in a single Pinot Noir red wine that aggregated the best qualities for which the region is known.

All our other wines are single vineyards. These represent place at a micro level. In making the Hillside Cuvee, we had the creative opportunity to select vineyards that, together, spoke, “Sonoma Coast.”

Hillside Cuvee does not disappoint! This wine leads with red fruits like pomegranate and fresh cranberry, but delivers bright minerality, referencing river stones in a crisp mid-palate. It finishes in white pepper, lingering for many minutes.

I met Pete some years ago after the first harvest since he had purchased the property. His daughter was getting married and he hoped to pour wine made from his vineyard at her wedding. Happy to oblige, Pete drove his truck over, we shared a glass and he walked away with a few cases of our Three Sons Cuvee. His vineyard contributed to the blend.

The vineyard was somewhat of a mystery. We’d no idea the clones, the age, or any pedigree whatsoever. But the fruit was consistently good and made for great blending.

Some years later, in 2015, I got a call from a young man in New York, Josh Groban. He was performing on Broadway, had tasted our wine, loved it, and inquired about making a special wine to benefit his foundation, the Find Your Light Foundation. The Find Your Light Foundation funds arts education across the United States.

Since we had three sons, all artists, all having attended public schools, the fit was synchronistic. We happily agreed.

During our first blending session with Josh in our Sebastopol winery, we lined all the barrels on a cement slab to taste through. We instructed Josh to choose his favorite. From there, we would build the blend for the Find Your Light Pinot Noir from our other vineyards. He selected the Haas Vineyard barrel from all others.

The following day, I called Pete Haas to alert him of the news. I didn’t think Pete would have known of Josh. He was about 10 years my senior and I’d not heard of Josh prior to that fateful call. To be candid, I’m somewhat culturally illiterate, living in the rural reaches of Sonoma County.

When I got Pete on the phone, I shared the news, expecting him to inquire, “Who’s Josh Groban? Tell me about the Find Your Light Foundation.”

Instead, Pete simply said “C’mon?!” I was confused.

He followed with, “Josh Groban was at your HOUSE!?”

I replied, “So you’ve heard of Josh?” And he shot back, “Ross, you hadn’t?!”  He proceeded to wax on about Josh’s many accomplishments, ending in, “He probably has one of the greatest voices of the century. We listen to him all the time.”

Then he inquired further, with a degree of knowledge that was telling, “And he’s making wine for the Find Your Light Foundation?”

I bit. “So you’re familiar, Pete? How do you know about that?”

He replied, “Well, we have a little foundation ourselves, and we’re aware of other foundations in our space.”

I was touched. “That’s so great Pete, you have a little foundation! What’s your foundation called?”

He said simply, “ The Haas Family Foundation.” My jaw dropped.

I said, “You’re THAT Haas?” embarrassingly.

The Haas Family founded a little company back in 1853 called Levy Strauss. After retiring two decades ago, Pete is involved in their extensive philanthropic arm. The Arts is a primary focus.

He proceeded without skipping a beat, “Ross, we might like to participate a bit more than providing fruit for this endeavor. Would you have an opportunity to introduce me to Josh and his Executive Director, Jake.”

This was in March of 2016. In April, Josh was hosting his second Gala for the Find Your Light Foundation at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Half Moon Bay. Only 200 people were to attend. Josh was performing with Jason Mraz, accompanied by some of the young beneficiaries of the Find Your Light Foundation. Halleck Vineyard had two tables.

I invited Pete to join as our guest. Rather than accept my offer, he suggested he’d like to bring some friends. Would I make an introduction to Jake so he might secure a table for he and his guests. He only asked that his table be next to ours.

Pete sponsored the last table at the Gala, situated between our table and Josh’s table in the center of the room. I had the opportunity to introduce Pete and Josh and Jake and discussions ensued about a greater involvement of the Haas Foundation with Find Your Light.

It touches me deeply that our little back-yard vineyard in Sebastopol provided the connective tissue to be in this place at this time.

We took the remaining wine not employed for the Find Your Light and created a small release of our vineyard designated, Haas Vineyard Pinot Noir. It earned a Double Gold in the San Francisco Chronicle and 99 points in the California State Fair.

This backyard vineyard of Dijon clones 667, 777, and 115 produces rich fruit with great texture and structure. It’s a luxurious wine, displaying the finest qualities, sort of a hybrid, of Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley. It leads with full rich flavors of cherry, a mid-palate of minerals and spice with a long rich finish. Great mouth feel of silky texture.

In 2003, after being judged #1 Pinot in the United States, we needed to make more wine than our Estate Grown Pinot Noir could support. Greg Lafollette, our winemaker, started combing the countryside and met Ben and George, just down the road from the winery in western Sebastopol.

Ben and George were successful, retired San Francisco business attorneys who planted a two-acre backyard vineyard with modest aspirations for its future. They simply hoped to sell the fruit to support the agriculture. They dreamed of living on a vineyard, moving from the hustle bustle of city life. The Farm was their weekend getaway. They hoped to enjoy the Farm before having “bought the Farm.”

We purchased their very first crop in 2003 and blended it with a bit of our Estate Grown to make our first Three Sons Cuvee Pinot Noir.

It wasn’t until 2005, after contracting more and more vineyards, that we realized the Farm Vineyard was quite special. The winery was enjoying exponential growth as our wines were distributed across the country, so we kept adding vineyards. The Farm stood out.

So we took a portion of the fruit from our 2005 crop and made our first vineyard-designated wine from The Farm Vineyard. It followed in the footsteps of our Estate Grown Pinot Noir and started winning award after award. We lobbied Ben and George to shift the vineyard to organic farming.

In 2019, our 2014 The Farm Vineyard, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir took the Grand Prize. It was judged Best of Class in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. It was the largest competition in the history of the country. 7200 wines were entered.

Then in 2020, our 2015 pinot noir vintage was awarded a Double Gold.

This is a very special vineyard producing a wine of international repute.

The 2016 boasts a highly aromatic nose, showing rose petals, bing cherry, black tea and thyme. Rich earthy tones blend with fruit for great texture and structure. Notes of dark cherry, black tea and dried herbs for an elegant old-world style. The finish is long of tea and gentle tobacco, hinting of dried fruit. Truly sophisticated and stunning!