Welcome to the Hafner Vineyard blog. Here, we share what’s happening around the vineyard and winery, along with wine education, helpful wine tips, stories from our patrons, and some of our favorite things to do in Healdsburg and Sonoma County.
We hope you enjoy following along, and if there’s something you’d like to learn more about, we’d love to hear from you.
Send your ideas to kate@hafnervineyard.com
The Press
Harvest 2026 arrived earlier than ever at Hafner Vineyard. After an early growing season, a cool summer, and smaller yields, we began picking Chardonnay nearly a month earlier than usual. The excit...
Read more
Winemaker Parke Hafner shares the key differences between Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, two red wines known for their rich flavors and character both of which we grow at our vineyard here in Sonom...
Read more
Barrel fermented Chardonnay is one of the techniques we use at Hafner Vineyard, typical of Burgundian white wines. Unlike tank-fermented Chardonnay (traditional of California), which highlights bri...
Read more
As a family business, I am pleased to announce that our younger daughter, Grace Hafner, is joining our winemaking team this August. She moved to Bordeaux in 2017 where she earned a Masters in Viney...
Read more
For us, the hardest part of producing Rosé is the color. It seems like every year the color is slightly different than the last. That is because the color comes from the skins. When we began making...
Read more
We recently had our annual Vertical Tasting of main and Reserve Chardonnays where we tasted eight vintages of each to see how they are aging. We were pleased with both flights. In this video, I sha...
Read more
We are often asked, “What is the sediment in my glass and why is it there?” As Master of Wine and Master Sommelier Gerard Basset explained, “They are harmless by-products of wine, and some equate t...
Read more
We have lived through several wildfires, but none was more impactful or harrowing than the Kincade Fire that reached our ranch in October 2019. We were aware of the impact of smoke taint, but this ...
Read more
One question I always seem to get when giving a tour is: how do you store an open bottle of wine? For Parke and me, the answer is quite simple. We put the cork back in the bottle and leave it on th...
Read more
Creating a new wine label is both exciting and intimidating. As a member of the production team, I know the wine intimately: how it is made and how it has evolved. As the designer of the label, I w...
Read more
We are delighted to announce the release of Hafner Vineyard’s first sparkling wine, our 2020 Blanc de Blancs. This has been many years in the making, and we are excited to share it with you. As the...
Read more
For me, nothing says Summer like a glass of chilled Rosé…it reminds us of a trip to Provence where we discovered Rosé back in 1985. After a long day at the winery, we enjoy sipping Rosé on our terr...
Read more
We are lucky to be the experimentation ground for our friend and budding photographer Chris Bingham. Over the past years, Chris has been honing his photography skills here at Hafner Vineyard whethe...
Read more
Harvest is always an exciting time here. It means early mornings for the vineyard and cellar teams, the smell of fermentation throughout the winery and the prospect of another vintage. We wanted to...
Read more
This Harvest marks our 40th Harvest here at Hafner Vineyard. We (Parke and Sarah) wanted to share a look back over the Harvests to share some stories, what has changed and what is the same. We also...
Read more
Winemaking is science driven and hence an ever-evolving profession. Through experimentation, we always strive to improve our techniques, processes and ultimately our wine. Cork is a natural product...
Read more
Comparing Main & Reserve Chardonnay
We make two different Chardonnays from the same vineyard - our main and Reserve Chardonnays. Patrons often ask why we do this and what the difference is between the two wines. Generally speaking, t...
Read more
Harvest is always a fun and exciting time of year when a lot happens. It’s the culmination of a year’s work for the vineyard team and the start to a new vintage for the cellar team. During the Cabe...
Read more
As the Holidays approach, harvest seems a distant memory, but for the cellar team, "harvest" is not complete until the fermentations are finished and the wines are aging in barrels. I have the long...
Read more
Decanting (pouring the wine from the bottle into another vessel, typically a decanter) is a simple, but careful process. It can be intimidating knowing when to decant a wine and when not to. Here I...
Read more