Cellar Favorite: 1976 Hanzell Vineyards Pinot Noir

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | JUNE 15, 2026

The 50th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris has resulted in many retrospective tastings and a good deal of reflection about the future of Napa Valley and wine more broadly, as the industry sits at a clear inflection point. Most of those tastings have naturally been focused on the wines that were featured in the Paris tasting. But those wines just scratch the surface of California’s oenological riches. Pinot Noir is a variety that sometimes gets overlooked, and that’s a shame. Hanzell’s Pinot Noir is fascinating because it weaves together strands of a legacy that starts in Burgundy and then runs through the Santa Cruz Mountains and Napa Valley before arriving in Sonoma County, in what is now known as the Moon Mountain District AVA.

Over the years, I have had the good fortune to taste many exceptional older California wines, including wines from Hanzell, so I can’t say I am totally surprised to see how beautiful the 1976 Pinot Noir is as it approaches its 50th birthday. Even so, the 1976 is incredibly deep and youthful for a wine of its age. Dark-fleshed fruit, spice cake, tobacco, leather, game and incense are wonderfully vital and rich in the glass. The 1976 continues to flesh out beautifully, revealing myriad shades of nuance and complexity over time. The 1976 was made from vines planted in 1953 by viticulturist Ivan Schoch using cuttings from To-Kalon, where Schoch was also the vineyard manager at the time. The widely accepted history is that Schoch took cuttings from Peter Martin Ray that originated in Burgundy and were brought into California by Paul Masson, and then propagated them in To-Kalon.

I tasted the 1976 with Tor Kenward over a wide-ranging discussion of the history of Napa Valley and California wine. It was a full-circle moment. The first time I met Kenward was on one of my early trips to Napa Valley. Robert Parker and I did a big tasting that day at Beringer, where Kenward spent 26 years of his illustrious career before leaving to focus on his TOR label. 96/2026-2036.

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