A couple of bottles arrived on my doorstep the other day, of which I knew nothing. They were red wines from Sonoma County, California, labeled Hamel Family Wines from the 2018 harvest. I opened both to taste side by side in a quiet setting so I could properly describe the experience. The first wine, Hamel Family Ranch, was a nearly opaque, glistening magenta in the glass, reflecting the setting sun. Tasting of dark cherry, pomegranate and tart cranberry with a background pleasant hint of oaky sweetness and mouth-filling structure, it was a “wow” moment. Then I tried the Hamel Family Wines Nuns Canyon Vineyard from Sonoma”™s Moon Mountain District. This dry wine showed dark fruit, including blackberry and raspberry, with hints of cinnamon, cedar and balanced tannins ”“ “wow” again. Both wines come in at 14.5% ABV (alcohol by volume).
After reveling in these wines for the extended sunset and well beyond, it was time to do a bit of research. Proprietors Pamela and George Hamel Jr. met in high school in Virginia and years later became an item. They moved west and ultimately bought a property in Sonoma Valley with an acre of planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines. Son John took a big interest in the vineyard post-college. He had learned a bit about organic gardening and wanted to kick-start the winery concept with organic and biodynamic directions. Another son, George, came to the vineyard with a financial background and immediately established a proper business model.
After John received his winemaking certificate at University of California at Davis and had a few harvests of grapes to practice on, they got serious. The family bought an adjacent 124-acre property and began planting vines. But what caught my attention the most was the all-star cast of consulting professionals they brought in to guide them to excellence in all areas of winery ownership. Their consultants include a noteworthy winemaker from Italy, an expert in biodynamic practices from Bordeaux, a technical viticulturist from Napa and, most notably for me, a terroir and soil scientist from Chile, Pedro Parra.
I attended a seminar several years ago in Manhattan hosted by Parra. He is passionate about studying and identifying soil types to determine which grapes specifically will shine in a particular setting. At the seminar, he showed himself in many photographs chest-deep in backhoe-dug pits where he was pointing out the soil types deep into the pit. What might be a perfect soil medium for one grape might be the undoing of another. Then we proceeded to taste several of the wines from the same vines with different soil types and they were quite different. When Parra determines the proper vine for a specific site, you can be sure it”™s a synergistic win.
The Hamel family now owns four different planting sites where they grow Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Grenache, Zinfandel, Syrah, Carignan, Petite Sirah and Chasselas, and you can bet that each is in its proper place. All of their vineyards are certified organic and biodynamic, no small feat. The Hamels have a meticulous, custom-built winery with a 7,000-square-foot room containing stainless steel and concrete tanks for fermentation. Adjacent to that is a 12,000-square-foot wine cave where oak barrels are contributing color, flavor and structure to the wine as well as oak barrels for actual fermentation and concrete egg fermentation tanks.
The Hamel family has a wonderful indoor tasting area for visitors, by appointment only. The website has several tour and tasting arrangements paired with light snacks or complemented with a complete meal assembled by the family chef. Look for the badger prominently displayed on their label, facing to the right. And that”™s symbolically relevant as the Hamels”™ decisions ”“ a serendipitous house purchase with a vineyard in place, two sons with appropriate interests and backgrounds and a brilliant winemaking staff ”“ have clearly been right.
Write Doug at doug@dougpaulding.com.
