EXTENDED THRU TUESDAY - Halcon Offer - Rhones and Pinot

Our eighth BerserkerDay! This year we are offering samplers of our 2016 Pinots and (predominantly estate) 2016 Rhones plus some Esquisto magnums. We genuinely feel that the 2016s are the best Halcón wines to date:

  1. We are offering a six-pack sampler of Halcón 2016 Pinot Noirs – three bottles each of Oppenlander and Bearwallow. We feel very privileged to be one of just two buyers of Rhys fruit, Thomas Rivers Brown being the other. This sampler is $195 + shipping (see costs below, delivery free in the Bay Area) + sales tax where applicable.

  2. An all-Rhone six-pack - two 2016 Alturas estate Syrah, two 2016 Esquisto estate Grenache blend, one 2016 Petite Sirah and one of the new Elevación estate Syrah. This is a special preview of 2016 PS and Elevación, which will be offered to the mailing list in the fall. Elevación is 100% Chave clone Syrah, fermented with 100% whole-cluster and aged in a single neutral puncheon. The sampler is $172 + shipping + sales tax where applicable.

  3. Combine two or more of the above six-packs and receive an additional 10% case discount.

  4. Due to a low crop level, we bottled just a dozen 2016 Esquisto magnums. Too few to offer to the mailing list. So we are offering them exclusively to Berserkers at $60 per + shipping + sales tax where applicable.

Please email us your order to info@halconvineyards.com (please include a number where we can reach you for credit card details). We can ship to most states. Flat rate ground shipping costs are: 6 btls $15, 12 btls $24, mag $10. Bay Area delivery is free.


2016 Bearwallow Pinot Noir
Bearwallow is located in the very “deep end” of Anderson Valley. It is a densely planted, hillside vineyard with thin soils of sandstone shale, quartz and schist. The fruit for this wine comes from a north-facing slope of 100% Swan clone. Fermented with native yeasts and 35% whole-cluster, it was aged in 20% new French François Frères oak.
The wine shows a stony red fruit profile. There are complicating notes of damp leaves, sage, fennel and balsa. It has a medium bodied weighting, and is bright and focused. There is a little tannin to resolve but it is approachable with a few hours of air. This wine will certainly benefit from 2-3 years in the cellar. Bottled unfined, unfiltered. 150 cases. 12.7% alc.
An early from bottle review - Grapelive: Wine of the Day January 10, 2018 – grapelive.com.

2016 Oppenlander Pinot Noir
Oppenlander vineyard experienced a very similar vintage to Halcón – the extremely cool May in 2015 lead to poor bud formation and a very low 2016 crop level. Just one ton per acre of predominately clone 115 plus a little Pommard selection was harvested late September. Once again we utilized native yeast fermentation and there was no adjustment for acids or alcohol. 35% whole-cluster and aged in 20% new French oak. There is certainly no shortage of color and flavor density this year. Bottled unfined, unfiltered. 110 cases. 13.3% alc.
The 2016 Pinot Noir Oppenlander comes from a site in the Yorkville Highlands, just outside of Mendocino, and saw a touch of whole clusters in the fermenter and is currently aging in mostly neutral oak. It offers a masculine, Côte de Nuits style in its earthy cherry, currants, smoked earth and ground herb aromatics. Rich, nicely textured, with good density and ripe tannin structure, it’s going to be an outstanding wine.(Jeb Dunnuck, July 2017) 90-93pts

2016 Alturas
This vintage saw a return to an October harvest for our estate Syrah. A mix of estate Syrah blocks, mainly Chave clone plus 3% co-fermented Viognier, was picked October 8th. Crop level was the lowest since 2013 - just 1.25 tons per acre. We utilized 50% whole-cluster and aged in 15% new French oak, in the form of a single 500L Ermitage puncheon.
This version of Alturas reminds me of a slightly more structured version of the 2013 (another very low crop year). Meaty, floral, fruits that trend towards the red spectrum and dried herb notes. It is more open knit than the two proceeding vintages and will drink well young but undoubtedly improve for a decade. I have to say that I believe it is the best Alturas to date. 13.5% alc. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 250 cases
I tasted two samples of the 2016 Syrah Alturas, one fermented with 100% whole clusters, and one with 50% whole clusters. Both were serious barrel samples possessing terrific notes of blackcurrants, cracked black peppercorns, meat and olives, full-bodied richness, solid density and ripe, yet certainly present, tannin. It’s loaded with potential, and is reminiscent of Côte Rôtie from the northern part of the appellation.” (Jeb Dunnuck, July 2017) 93-95pts

2016 Elevación
We have long debated a second cuvee of Halcón estate Syrah. The quality of the 2016 fruit convinced us to finally go ahead. This wine consists of a 100% whole-cluster fermentation of 100% Chave clone Syrah aged in a single neutral puncheon. Native yeasts, no adjustments, and no fine nor filter. There are just 50 cases produced. We are offering this wine here and to the mailing list only. Any remaining wine will be sold to Bay Area restaurants.
Compared to the 2016 Alturas, this wine has a more floral, olive character and there is a distinct spearmint note. The fruits are slightly brighter and redder than the Alturas. 13.2% alc.

2016 Esquisto
Picked on October 22nd, the Halcón estate Grenache and Mourvedre had the longest hang-time in a number of years. We harvested just 2.5 tons of fruit from 3 acres. The (heat-loving) Mourvedre was particularly hard hit by the poor bud formation in May 2015 and as a result is a slightly lower percentage of the blend. To compensate, we for the first time co-fermented a little Syrah. The 2016 blend is 70% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and 10% Syrah. Again, 30% whole-cluster was included and we utilized neutral French oak puncheons for aging. The slightly higher percentage of Grenache has given a more red-fruited profile than previous vintages. Though very enjoyable now, there is a serious tannic spine suggesting some bottle age will be rewarded. Bottled unfined, unfiltered. 14.2%
The Rhone blend of the estate is the 2016 Esquisto and it’s a rough blend of mostly Grenache with smaller amounts of Mourvèdre and Syrah. It’s a ripe, meaty, earthy barrel sample that offers serious intensity in its blackberry, blueberry, peppery herbs and earth-driven aromas and flavors. It’s tannic and structured, with plenty of fruit, and I suspect 2-3 years of bottle age will be its friend.” (Jeb Dunnuck, July 2017) 91-93pts

2016 Petite Sirah
Our fourth vintage of this wine with fruit sourced from the excellent Theopolis Vineyard in Yorkville Highlands. We continued the “full-on Rhone” style from 2015, with aging in neutral French oak puncheons and fermentation with 50% whole-cluster. A little more open that the 2015, with plenty of structure but a little more upfront chocolate-laced fruit. Unfined and unfiltered. 14.1%
The 2016 Petite Sirah Tierra Theopolis Vineyard is another straight up fabulous barrel sample from Paul Gordon. Its deep ruby/purple color is followed by gorgeous notes of black raspberries, lavender, flowers, and honeysuckle. Perfumed, elegant and already surprisingly forward, it still packs tons of fruit and richness on the palate, with vibrant acidity and a great finish.(Jeb Dunnuck, July 2017) 93-96pts

As I reported in our blind tasting at Frank Murray’s house, here - https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2381494#p2381494 - the Alturas from Halcon is absolutely awesome, and for those who like old school Syrah, GET SOME!!! (like you, Andrew Christiansen!)

Order in.

In for a Rhone pack and a mag!

Thanks Todd and Billy.

I just bought a case and a half from their winter release and am half considering getting more :wink:
Love love love Halcon!

David - thanks for all your support!

In for a Rhone pack. Have only heard great things.

Thanks Lee

I meant to include this in the original post - here is the blind tasting last year (Rhone trip revisited: California vs. Rhone blind tasting - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers) that inspired the event at Frank’s house.

You can edit the first post by clicking the edit button (looks like a pencil)

Will do that for tomorrow …

Going Rhone and can’t wait

In for the Rhône.

Thanks Rich and Mark

I’ll take a Pinot Pack.
Fantastic!! :relaxed:

In for a Rhone Pack and Mag.

I will ping you Kurt.
Thanks for the order Patrick.

In! bargain for the quality of the wines. The estate wines are a no-brainer, and I’ve been very impressed with the Pinots over the last few years as well.

All great wines, can’t wait to try the new vintages!

Just purchased the Rhône 6-pack. Gave my CC information to Jackie. Looking forward to trying these wines.