Moving on to Part 3 of our recent Sonoma trip, we head further south in the Russian River Valley to the town of Sebastopol, where Ross and business partner, Jennifer, Halleck had our party of 6 over to the their house and estate vineyard for a visit. This is very unique but nothing new for this very charming and down-to-earth couple. They pride themselves on getting to know people and give club members exceptional treatment when they are being visited or vice versa. I became a club member just last Fall when our close friend, Jack, introduced us to Halleck’s wines and told us the stories of Ross’ visits to Atlanta. As it turns out, Ross visits Atlanta quite a bit and many other locations around the world, as does Jennifer. It seems a winery owner’s job is never done or dull as they are seemingly on the road all the time visiting distributors, restaurants, and members or they are hosting member events such as a Kenyan Safari or a trip to Hawaii.
View from the Backyard
The Halleck estate vineyard is literally in their front and back yard surrounding the house. It was the Pinot Noir from this vineyard that wine consultant, Greg La Follette, of Tandem Wines (name to be changed to La Follette Wines), sourced fruit for the 2001 Tandem Pinot Noir Halleck Vineyard that won the Pinot Noir Shootout in 2002, giving the Hallecks the needed promotional and credibility boost for their business. In 2005, Rick Davis became their full time winemaker who worked with Greg on the award-winning 2001 wine as well.
As I mentioned, Ross travels quite a bit and last Fall he spent an entire week in Atlanta. The whole trip was all business as he attending the Quality wine show, visited restaurants, hosted dinners and visited club members. According to their website, Halleck’s wines are present in 37 locations in Georgia at last count, which is pretty successful for a smaller winery in this behind-the-times state. Jack opened his home to Ross his first night in town not only to share his wines and have dinner (Jack is a pretty damn good cook, by the way), but to also crash for the night. How many winery owners or winemakers have stayed at your house? I, unfortunately, did not have the pleasure of staying up with those guys until the wee hours of the morning, but I am told there were some great stories.
Jennifer & Ross
Later that week, we joined Ross once again at Murphy’s, a restaurant, bakery, bar & wine shop in Virginia Highlands, for a wine dinner. Nick Salpekar is Murphy’s wine consultant and got Jack hooked onto the Halleck’s wines from the beginning. Ross is so engaging and grateful that everyone at the dinner follow his every word and find it super easy to talk to him. Of course, he doesn’t really need to say much because these wines speak for themselves. Finally, to end a busy week, we asked Ross to join us once again, this time at our house, so that we could thank him for his generosity during the week and show him a little southern hospitality. We were hosting a BBQ and pairing Lodi Zinfandel with the various dishes, but we let a few Pinots and a Gewurztraminer into the mix too. You can read more about that party here. In the end, a great friendship and great respect for the wine had begun. So, you can see, a personal touch really does go a long way.
As you can probably already tell, the main focus for Halleck is Pinot Noir being situated in the heart of the Russian River Valley. However, they do offer a fabulous Sauvignon Blanc and a phenomenal Gewurztraminer. I also noticed that Jennifer likes to say “phenomenal” almost as much as I do. 
You can tell Ross is a spiritual man and he easily offers up that piece of personal information very proudly. He also loves spicy Indian food, which the main driver for the Gewurztraminer they make, which is the perfect pairing for this style of food and inherent spice.
Wines
2007 Hillside Cuvee Pinot Noir - This was my favorite of the day. It was very fruit-forward and elegant. Tart cherries on the nose, smooth and a great finish.
2007 The Farm Vineyards Pinot Noir - This vineyard is made up of Dijon Clone 777, but I didn’t take any notes. I recall it had great structure.
2007 Three Sons Cuvee Pinot Noir - Named after for their three boys, whom you can see on their website. This Pinot is a blend of fruit from the Hallberg and The Farm vineyards.
Thanks to Ross and Jennfifer for opening their home to us. It is a trip we won’t forget!
You will need to call ahead and get an appointment if you are in the area: Jennifer Halleck, 707-738-8383, Jennifer@halleckvineyard.com
Blaze not chasing any Turkeys this time
