On Saturday, we hosted our 11th Next Generation Harvest Party. Since we sell all our wine direct to people at home, this is a fun way to introduce the next generation to Hafner wines. It was a perfect Fall day with Mother Nature tempting a sprinkle of rain but the sun peered through later in the day. Check out some highlights from the day.
We are delighted to announce the release of Hafner Vineyard’s first sparkling wine, our 2020 Blanc de Blancs. This has been many years in the making, and we are excited to share it with you. As the name implies, it is made of 100% Chardonnay and produced in the “Méthode Champenoise”. Making sparkling wine is different from still wine, so we wanted to give you a behind the scenes look at the past few years many our first vintage.
We have a longstanding intern program that began in 1985 when a friend of a friend asked if we would host a French enology student. A few years earlier, Sarah and I were interns in Burgundy and realized how impactful an internship could be, so it was easy for us to say “Yes!” Fast forward to 2023 and we welcomed our 38th intern…Jonas Armagnacq to our winery and our home. He has quickly become part of the family both at home and at the winery, bringing hard work and a lot of laughter to our days.
This growing season in Alexander Valley and all over Sonoma County has been a bit unique. That's what makes farming fun and interesting... no two years are the same. Vineyard Manager, David Huebel, gives an update on the grapes and shares his harvest predictions for vintage 2023. The headline: "It has been late and will continue to be late."
Although a bit unique in the blooming wine hospitality industry of Healdsburg and Sonoma County, we typically only host tours and tastings twice a month. Every visit is led by a family member and most of the time, it is me. We take pride in what we do, and we want to be the ones who share our story with patrons and guests. We feel it is the gracious thing to do. It reminds us of our visits to small wineries in France. We typically spend about 90 minutes talking about the vineyard and winemaking practices, all the while enjoying various wines.
