The Press

How Chardonnay Ages

Often, I am asked “How long do you age your Chardonnays?” And my answer is always a bit complicated. I do say that our Chardonnays can age easily for five years from the vintage date, but wine is a...

Meaning of "Estate Bottled"

What does “Estate Bottled” mean and why is it so important? Winemaker Parke Hafner answers these questions on our blog. All our wines are estate bottled, so we have complete control from growing th...

Cork Trials

Before bottling any wine, we hold cork trials to determine which corks we will purchase. It's a time-consuming process. We request samples from a number of different cork manufacturers. Our goal is...

Barrel Fermented Cabernet

The goal of every winemaker is to produce the best wine they can each year. We have been making wine here at Hafner Vineyard for over 35 years, and we enjoy the wines we produce, so we are not tryi...

Cabernet Sauvignon vs. Malbec

Here at Hafner Vineyard, we grow three red Bordeaux varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot) and from those varieties we make two distinctly different wines - Cabernet Sauvignon and ...

French Intern Arthur

Every July, our household and cellar team grow by one. We hire a young Frenchman as our winery intern for the harvest. He is between his second and third year at an agricultural university in Toulo...

Chardonnay Harvest Film

We wanted to share a mid-Harvest update from our Winemaker Parke Hafner and Vineyard Manager David Huebel. We also created a fun video with sneak peeks from behind the scenes of the Chardonnay Harv...

Minimal Waste Bottling

Bottling is the process with the most potential waste during the production of wine. We bring in a number of different items and coordinate with numerous suppliers to put our wine into the packagin...

How to Make Rosé

Rosé has become a popular new wine, not just at Hafner, but across the country. It's a very fun Summer drink on a warm afternoon day. Producing a pink wine is a bit different than making a red or w...

Barrel Fermented Chardonnay

The technique of barrel fermenting Chardonnay has been used for centuries in France but was first introduced to me in 1979 when I worked at Chappellet winery in Napa Valley. My time working at Doma...

Host a Cabernet Vertical Tasting

Explaining in writing how our wines age can be difficult to comprehend. Actually tasting the differences between vintages gives you a chance to see the aging process in action. That is why we often...

Harvest to Date

Harvest is always an exciting time of year, but it can bring anxiety and nervousness. It reminds us that we are at Mother Nature’s will, and this year is no exception. Just before Labor Day, the te...

New Capsules

You may have noticed a small change to the capsules on our Reserve Chardonnay. The capsule isn’t just to provide a clean, secure covering for the cork...it also provides the clue to what’s inside. ...

Why Rosé of Malbec

Rosé, to me, signals the advent of Spring, and after this year’s Winter rain (almost double our normal rainfall total), we are ready for Rosé. Parke and I discovered Rosé back in 1985 on a trip to ...

Malolactic Chardonnay "Starter"

It's here! Today marked the first (though unofficial) day of the 2016 Harvest. Each year, the vineyard crew handpicks a small amount of Chardonnay, so that we can create a malolactic “starter”. Thi...

Malolactic Fermentation Chardonnay

When asked the question–“What has most influenced my winemaking philosophy/style?”–I would have to answer my internship at Domaine des Comtes Lafon. René Lafon opened my eyes to his traditional tec...

Benefits of an Estate Vineyard

As all winemakers know, winemaking starts in the vineyard. Having our winery at the southeast corner of our vineyard (30 feet away!) ensures that I’m out in the vineyard frequently. That, in my opi...

Speedy Chardonnay Bottling with GoPro

Late July and early August days are filled with my least favorite job – bottling. It’s both stressful and monotonous. We bottle our Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Next Red (all from our Alexand...

Wine Aging 101

Aging wine can be intimidating, so we thought we’d provide our experience and perspective. Here is a “Wine Aging 101” to focus on our Alexander Valley Cabernet...so grab your pencil and a glass of ...

27 Vintages to Taste

Early each year, we sit down at Mom and Dad’s dining room table overlooking the vineyard for our annual vertical tastings. Held over a couple of days, these tastings give us an opportunity to compa...