Scott and Parke Hafner have a different business model to most. They only sell to private clients, no retail. We were lucky to spot a bottle from the 5% they sell into restaurants in California. Scott and Parke Hafner’s family winery is beautifully located in Alexander Valley and surrounded by their own meticulously kept vines. While their winery was being built back in the early 80’s, Parke Hafner did a stint at Comte Lafon in Meursault, influencing the style ever since. Lush, ripe Alexander Valley fruit unobscured by oak, with aromas of roasted nuts and a stream of minerality rarely seen in Californian Chardonnay.
If their Chardonnay looks to Burgundy for its benchmark, their Cabernet looks to Bordeaux rather than Napa for its inspiration. Although Alexander Valley produces succulent fruit, the valley is cooler than Napa, making the wine more restrained than its neighbour from the other side of the canyon. We revel in the generosity and pure, high-toned fleshiness of their Cabernet, reminding us of those legendary Cali bottles from the 70s and 80s before some people got carried away with new oak and over-extraction.
Did we say no retail? There is one exception – we are proud to be the only shop in the world to have Hafner wines.
