Every story about Hanzell starts with the fact that founder, James Zellerbach, planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir after a trip to Burgundy in 1952. Yes, ‘52. Long before California Chard and Pinot were a thing,... Read More

Every story about Hanzell starts with the fact that founder, James Zellerbach, planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir after a trip to Burgundy in 1952. Yes, ‘52. Long before California Chard and Pinot were a thing, let alone the coolest thing.

That history is amazing, but it’s not why We're so crazy about these wines today. Today, the story is Jason Jardine, the Wayne Gretzky of cool-climate Cali wines. Jason was a prodigy (planted his first vineyard at 18), worked with Randall Grahm, helped establish Flowers (the pathbreaking cool-climate Pinot domaine), and planted the vineyards at Rhys (making Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot into the latest greatest thing).

Jason took over at Hanzell in 2014 and worked with the family to turn the clock back — not to the 1950s, but to the days before the industrial revolution. Jason is a proponent of a style of farming, “integrated farming practices,” which he believes are better for the wine, the land and planet. No chemical inputs at all (no fertilizers, no herbicides). Instead, they grow cover crops between the rows and let animals graze them. Voila: natural fertilizer!

Hanzell doesn't even plow between the rows. Apparently it’s a great way to fight global warming. Tilling tears and kills all the plants you turn up, releasing their carbon back into the atmosphere. No-till farming lets the soil, one of the world’s best carbon capture devices, work its planet-cooling magic.