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By: Bryan Brick |
K&L Staff Member |
Review Date: 5/23/2012
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I can say without any hesitation that in the near ten years I've been in the wine business I have seen few producers of Domestic Chardonnay and Pinot Noir perform better than Chasseur. Bill Hunter, winemaker and owner, has made as consistently delicious, age-worthy and varietally correct wines as you can find over this period of time, yet he, and his wines, are still relatively unknown. Why? Well for one he is a bit of a curmudgeon, but in a totally endearing way. He is not the slick winery owner that came from Bio-Tech or internet roots, he is not a blatant self-promoter kissing up to the various wine pundits hoping to squeak out one more point for them to add to that "big" score. If you don't like his wines it is perfectly fine by him, he will not try to convince you otherwise. What he is, is a winemaker first and foremost, and he has never had a problem coaxing the best possible performance out of the grapes he makes wine from. Using some top notch fruit sources that people like Kistler, W.H. Smith, Marcassin and Landmark have made famous, Bill has come up with wines that are incredible, terroir driven interpretations rather than developing a house style regardless of vineyard site. My recommendation is to try his wines while you can, you'll thank me later and a perfect place to start is with his entry level Pinot Noir. This Sonoma County bottling is pure Bill: silky, textural, fruit driven and yet with a distinct lack of unnecessary heft and while this is a touch riper and more bass toned than usual it is still a classy, layered effort. Rhubarb, cherry compote, sandstone and sage flavors combine on the mid-palate and vastly over deliver in the world of $30 Pinot Noir.
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