Mailer Season Almost Over...Finally.

Thank goodness, the mailer season is almost over. With the hype that currently follows virtually every high quality release of Pinot Noir from California (think Kosta Browne, Rhys, Williams Selyem, etc.) combined with the purportedly ultra-high quality 2005 vintage in Northern California, the bank acounts of serious collectors of these wines have been under assault for over 2 months now.

The last mailers I am still patiently waiting for are Varner and Walter Hansel. For those of you who have yet to try either of these producers, here is a quick summary for both:

Walter Hansel is one of my favorite Pinot producers from California. Stephen, the owner of the winery is a perfectionist that follows Burgundian wine making techniques and turns out outstanding Pinot every year. Despite lofty scores from the critics, prices have not gone up much at all in recent vintages. The only caveat to throw in...if you do not like a certain amount of "funk" and earthiness in your wines, you will probably not like these wines.

Varner is a winery based in the Santa Cruz Mountain appellation and twin brothers Jim and Bob make some of the finest California Chardonnays IMNSHO. The 2004 version of the Chardonnays are full throttle chardonnays that all saw only 30% new oak. Despite the fantastic fruit, good structure, minerality, and a sense of place distinguish these wines from the ocean of mediocre and even good Chardonnay. The 2005s should be even more spectacular as the vintage boasted a cooler growing season turning out lower alcohol and more "terroir" driven wines.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment.