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Hallberg is a 100-acre vineyard located in Green Valley, a sub-appellation of the Russian River Valley that locals proudly call the “coolest, foggiest region of the Russian River Valley.” According to the winery, the cool and damp summer mornings, as well as the low-vigor Goldridge Sandy Loam soil consistently “produce fruit with deep, dark color, great structure, silky tannins, dark fruit flavors and earthy characteristics.” Add superb winemaking to the excellent terroir and you get some awesome pinot! Weather conditions in 2019 led to a large crop. But with some dropping of unevenly-ripe clusters in the vineyard, the fruit came in with excellent flavor, concentration, and tannins. The winery calls this a “beautiful example of dry-farmed Pinot Noir from a cool Coastal climate.” The complex nose of mulberry, bay laurel, orange zest and fresh cedar leads to a lovely palate with flavors that don’t quit.
On trying the first wine Gary Farrell made (a 1978 Davis Bynum Pinot Noir) in a wine competition, the renowned Russian-born enologist, André Tchelistcheff was said to remarked, “whoever made it, he knows Pinot Noir.” Since that time Farrell went on not only to make excellent Pinot Noir, but to play a key role in the transformation of rural Russian River Valley into a world class producer of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Young and self-taught, Farrell served as winemaker for Bynum as well as Joe Rochioli and continued to receive Rochioli fruit on a handshake basis long after founding his own winery in 1982. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Farrell set a high bar for small-lot, Russian River Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Though he sold the winery in 2004 (and retired from the wine business in 2013), his legacy is alive and well at the Gary Farrell Winery. Owned by the Vincraft Group since 2012, the winery remains true to Gary’s belief in vineyard-designated Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from such “Grand Cru” properties as Rochioli, Allen, Westside Farms, and Hallberg. In recent years, the winery has added more storied, heritage vineyards to its portfolio, such as Ritchie, Bacigalupi and Martinelli in RRV, as well as the Durrell Vineyard in Sonoma Valley and the Bien Nacido Vineyard, in the Santa Maria Valley. Because of variations in soils, micro-climate, orientation, clones, and age, these vineyards offer the winery the opportunity to produce wines of place and unique character. Since 2012, the winemaker has been Theresa Heredia, a chemistry researcher-turned-winemaker who arrived with several years’ of experience in cool-climate winemaking at Freestone Winery, the Sonoma Coast operation owned by Joseph Phelps. She has evolved the Gary Farrell house style toward even greater elegance and balance with such “innovative” (actually old!) techniques as early picking, extended maceration, fermentation with whole clusters and native yeasts, aging in large-sized (500 L) puncheons and even some old-fashioned foot treading. Improvements at Gary Farrell have not gone unnoticed by the press. Food and Wine Magazine chose the 2015 Russian River Selection Pinot Noir as one of the PNs “to drink if you want to be an expert,” while Wine Enthusiast selected the 2015 Russian River Selection Chardonnay as its No. 1 of the Enthusiast Top 100 in 2017.
| Country | USA |
| Region | California |
| Appellation(s) | Russian River Valley (Sonoma) |
| Winery | Gary Farrell |
| Vintage | 2019 |
| Color | Red |
| Varietal(s) | Pinot Noir |
| Closure | Cork |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Bottle Size | 8.4 x 30.5 |
| Case Size | 35.5 x 27.0 x 32.0 |
| Alcohol | 14.1% |
| Product Code | GF19HBP |
| UPC | 837434000302 |
Complex aromas of mulberry, bay laurel, orange zest, and fresh cedar lead to a lovely palate of darker berries, cassis, and savory notes of pepper, tobacco leaf, and black tea. The charm continues with the interplay of power and finesse and a long silky finish.
Grapes were hand-picked in the cool early morning. Destemmed fruit (63%) and whole clusters (37%) were treated to a 7-day cold soak before being warmed up to start fermentation. The wine aged in 40% new oak barrels for 15 months.