Hanzell Vineyards

James D. Zellerbach, president of the forest products company Crown Zellerbach and later U.S. Ambassador to Italy under the Marshall Plan, bought the 200-acre Mayacamas property near Sonoma in 1948. After extensive time in Burgundy, he and his wife Hana set out to build a winery of redwood and local stone modeled on Clos de Vougeot, and in 1953 planted three acres of Chardonnay and three acres of Pinot Noir, when North America had fewer than a few hundred acres of either variety. The estate is named for Hana. Zellerbach hired viticulturalist Ivan Schoch and, in 1956, winemaker Brad Webb; the Heritage Winery was completed the same year. The first vintage followed in 1957. Zellerbach died in 1963. Hana sold the 1963 and 1964 vintages to Joe Heitz of St. Helena, who released them under the Heitz Cellars name, then sold the estate to Douglas and Mary Day, with ownership transferring in 1965. Barbara de Brye, a London-based heiress, bought Hanzell sight unseen in 1975, and her son Alexander de Brye inherited it in 1991 at age 16. Ownership has passed from the Zellerbachs to the Day family in 1965 and to the de Brye family in 1975.

• Zellerbach, president of Crown Zellerbach and later U.S. Ambassador to Italy, bought the 200-acre property in 1948
• The estate is named for Zellerbach's wife, Hana
• Three acres each of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir planted in 1953, when fewer than a few hundred acres of each grew in all of North America
• Owners: James and Hana Zellerbach (founders), Douglas and Mary Day (from 1965), and the de Brye family (from 1975)

Working with founding winemaker Brad Webb, Zellerbach was the first in California to age wine exclusively in small French oak barrels, the same cooperage the estate still uses, at a time when redwood and American oak barrels previously used for bourbon were the norm. He also designed the first small temperature-controlled stainless steel fermentation tanks used in California, replacing the concrete and redwood vats most wineries relied on and giving winemakers control over fermentation temperature. Hanzell was also first to use nitrogen in bottling, fitting tanks to minimize oxygen and adding a touch of inert gas to each bottle before filling, and Webb pioneered controlled malolactic fermentation to stabilize the wines while still in barrel. Ravenswood winemaker Joel Peterson has called Hanzell critical to the evolution of the California wine business and its innovations critical to small-winery credibility in California. Cyrus wine director Jim Rollston points to Hanzell's decades-long track record of wines that age and gain complexity over time.

• First California winery to age wine exclusively in small French oak barrels
• Designed the first small, temperature-controlled stainless steel fermentation tanks used in California, replacing concrete and redwood vats
• First to use nitrogen in bottling to protect wine from oxidation; pioneered controlled malolactic fermentation in barrel
• Ravenswood's Joel Peterson has called Hanzell's innovations critical to the evolution of the California wine business and to small-winery credibility statewide

Hanzell straddles the Mayacamas ridge at the southern end of the Moon Mountain District Sonoma County AVA, overlooking the south-western end of Sonoma Valley and San Pablo Bay. The vines grow in acidic "red hill series" soils and volcanic subsoils. Of the 200-acre property, 46 acres are planted to vine. Wine journalist Fred Swan places the oldest continuously producing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines in the United States in the Ambassador's 1953 Vineyard, the estate's original planting, and Sonoma Magazine counts it among the oldest continuously producing Chardonnay vineyards in North America. The original 1953 Chardonnay was planted to the Wente clone and the original Pinot Noir to the Martin Ray clone, its cuttings reputedly taken in a clandestine late-night raid on a Napa Valley vineyard by Brad Webb. Current estate Chardonnay is planted to Wente and Hanzell's own selection, primarily on St. George rootstock.

• Southern end of the Moon Mountain District Sonoma County AVA, straddling the Mayacamas ridge
• Acidic "red hill series" soils and volcanic subsoils; 46 of the estate's 200 acres are planted to vine
• Fred Swan names the Ambassador's 1953 Vineyard as home to the oldest continuously producing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines in the United States
• Original 1953 plantings: Wente clone Chardonnay and Martin Ray clone Pinot Noir, the latter reputedly from a late-night cutting raid on a Napa vineyard by Brad Webb

The estate portfolio includes the Heritage Chardonnay and Heritage Pinot Noir. The Heritage Chardonnay is an estate blend from 32 acres across the Ambassador's 1953, Day, de Brye, Ramos, and Zellerbach vineyard blocks, planted to Wente and Hanzell clones primarily on St. George rootstock, with an average vine age by volume of 40 years. The Heritage Pinot Noir comes from 12 acres across the Ambassador's 1953, de Brye, Maggie's, and Sessions blocks, with an average vine age by volume of 33 years. The Heritage Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, comes from two acres of the Zellerbach and de Brye blocks planted in 2012. Single-block bottlings of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the original two-acre Ambassador's 1953 Vineyard, planted by Zellerbach in 1953, run to 75 cases each. Current releases also include the Hanzell Farm Zellerbach Selection Chardonnay, the de Brye Selection Chardonnay, and the Hanzell Farm Maggie's Selection Pinot Noir. The 'Sebella' Chardonnay is made from Hanzell's younger Day and Zellerbach vines, averaging 17 years by volume, fermented in stainless steel and aged six months in neutral French oak; the Sebella Pinot Noir is made with partner growers along the Sonoma Coast. Across the portfolio, Hanzell ferments with native yeast naturally occurring on the grape skins, adds no malolactic bacteria, limits additives to sulfur, grape tartaric acid, and, when needed for Chardonnay, bentonite clay for stabilization, and bottles under Diam 'Origine' natural corks without foil capsules.

• Heritage Chardonnay: 32 acres across five named blocks, Wente and Hanzell clones on St. George rootstock, average vine age 40 years by volume
• Heritage Pinot Noir: 12 acres across the Ambassador's 1953, de Brye, Maggie's, and Sessions blocks, average vine age 33 years by volume
• Single-block Ambassador's 1953 Vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, 75 cases each, from the original two-acre 1953 block
• 'Sebella' Chardonnay from younger Day and Zellerbach vines (average 17 years), fermented in stainless steel and aged six months in neutral French oak

Brad Webb was founding winemaker from 1956. In 1973 the Day family hired Bob Sessions, who had made his name on mountain-grown Cabernets at Mayacamas Vineyards, and José Ramos joined as Vineyard Manager in 1976. Sessions oversaw more than 30 vintages before handing the winemaking to Michael Terrien, previously of Acacia, in 2005; Terrien made the 2005 through 2007 vintages. Michael McNeill, previously of Chalone Vineyard and Keller Estate, was hired as winemaker in 2008 alongside Linda Hanson and was still the estate's winemaker in November 2025. In 2003 TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) was found in the winery itself; Wine Spectator's James Laube brought the issue to Hanzell's attention, and although the levels were minute (2 parts per trillion in the Chardonnay, 3 in the Pinot Noir), the original winery was abandoned, a new winery was built, and a cave system was excavated for cellaring, with construction beginning that year. Jason Jardine joined Hanzell as President and Director of Winemaking in 2014. Today 24 percent of Hanzell's staff has a tenure of more than twenty years, 67 percent more than ten years, and average staff tenure is fourteen years.

• Brad Webb (from 1956), Bob Sessions (1973, more than 30 vintages), Michael Terrien (2005 to 2007), and Michael McNeill (from 2008) have led winemaking
• José Ramos joined as Vineyard Manager in 1976
• A 2003 TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) issue in the winery, brought to Hanzell's attention by Wine Spectator's James Laube, led to a new winery and cave system
• Jason Jardine joined as President and Director of Winemaking in 2014; average staff tenure across the estate is fourteen years

Hanzell became Certified Organic through CCOF in 2021 and is run as a Certified Organic, Integrated Holistic Farm. Alongside its 46 acres of vineyard, the 200-acre property is home to cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, geese, ducks, dogs, cats, and turkeys, plus vegetable gardens, fruit orchards, and roughly 150 acres of native forest land. Work implementing Holistic Integrated Farming practices began in 2016, and in 2017 chickens, sheep, and pigs joined the farm with two Maremma livestock guardian dogs, Scout and Radley. Grazing animals rotate through the vineyard in paddocks of one to three days, covering about a third of the vineyard in a given year, and the resident pigs are used for weed control. Soil is kept covered through annual cover cropping, rotational grazing, and roller-crimping rather than tilling; cover crops run roughly 55 percent legumes, 40 percent cereals, and 5 percent roots, and the estate aims to operate as a carbon sink. Jason Jardine's titles are President, Farmer, and Director of Winemaking. The first Hanzell Farm series wines were released in 2018.

• CCOF Certified Organic since 2021; run as a Certified Organic, Integrated Holistic Farm across the 200-acre property
• Livestock includes cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, geese, and ducks, alongside vegetable gardens and roughly 150 acres of native forest land
• Maremma guardian dogs Scout and Radley joined the farm in 2017 along with chickens, sheep, and pigs
• No-till, roller-crimped cover crops (about 55% legumes, 40% cereals, 5% roots) and rotational grazing limited to one to three days per paddock

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.hanzell.com/, https://www.hanzell.com/our-story, https://www.hanzell.com/people, https://www.hanzell.com/farming, https://www.hanzell.com/winemaking, https://www.hanzell.com/our-wines, https://www.hanzell.com/visit. Secondary sources: Press Democrat, PinotFile / Prince of Pinot, Sonoma Magazine, FredSwan.wine. Last verified 2026-10-12. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.