Winemaker Notes
If you're a Pinot Noir or Chardonnay fan, look no further than Hangtime Cellars. Winemaking team Rob Mondavi and Tony Coltrin travel the globe to source the finest fruit from the established and emerging wine regions where these two varieties thrive.
Although "hang time" may evoke an image of folks on their day off, sipping wine and relaxing in the sun, the name actually refers to the amount of time the grapes spend hanging on the grapevines. The longer grapes spend on the vine, the more time they have to develop the concentrated fruit character that results in wines of distinctive, delicious varietal expression. Appellations have to be warm enough to fully ripen grapes, yet cool enough to prolong this ripening while maintaining the kind of natural acidity that balances rich fruit flavor. These are the spots that Hangtime's winemakers seek for the highest quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. They source fruit from cool spots all over the world, from California to Burgundy to New Zealand.
While there are stylistic similarities — all the wines are well-balanced with aromas of well-ripened fruit — each wine maintains its own distinct nuances, reflecting the unique characteristics of the region it comes from. And you'll know exactly how long the grapes stayed on the vine, because every label is stamped with a number that indicates the hangtime for that vintage.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Named after the dramatic, seasonal river of rain and snowmelt that cuts through the upper elevations of the Santa Lucia Mountains, the Arroyo Seco AVA extends east from the resultant mountain gorge, and into the rural and warm Salinas Valley. During the growing season, cool and damp Pacific Ocean air penetrates the gorge and flows into the valley, creating a cool evening respite for vineyards after a hot summer day. This natural water-release has also created a subterranean aquifer, which helps set the foundation of the AVA's boundaries and supplies the vineyards with water.
Arroyo Seco was actually home to the first commercial vineyard in California, called Mission Ranch, which was owned and propogated by the Mirassou family in the 1960s.
Chardonnay is most widely grown here. But as one of Monterey’s warmer regions, Arroyo Seco enjoys the highest praise for its reds, namely Bordeaux blends.
Arroyo Seco is one of the oldest AVAs in California, its status granted in the early 1980s, and also remains one of its smallest.