Hammell Wine Alliance

They don’t get much recognition on the board. Very nice wines. Next release live next week.

very good wine!

Delicious!

Agreed. Can’t miss.

Getting more and more recognition these days

The 2011 True Beliver didn’t do it for me. The 2012 blew my socks off.

Also really enjoyed the rose.

Will be placing my order and can’t wait!

The 2012 TB is a real stunner. The 2013 is even better!!!

Cheers!

Well, if one wonders why they don’t get more recognition, their web site might be a factor. Virtually useless.

What’s the difference between the TB and the Ampitheatre?

Not sure I understand this. Is there any sort of correlation between good wine and a good website?

My concern is that it appears that their wines require significant aging before consumption. Am I wrong here?

I don’t think that’s accurate. I had the 2012 last year and it was amazing. I did give it a long decant but it was absolutely gorgeous. Would it be much better in a few years? Possibly/probably but I had zero regrets in opening it.

An interesting observation. I’m just curious why that would be considered a bad thing? Yes, I am stirring the pot here a bit, but it used to be that one would feel that a wine cannot be great unless you had to lay it down for a lengthy amount of time.

Well, I don’t know that anyone’s ever studied that. My point is that if someone (e.g. me) reads about a winery on the Board and would like to try it, and goes to the winery web site, and there is absolutely no way to order the wine, that’s a bit of a deal-breaker.

We had the 2011 and 2012 True Believer poured by Loren Sonkin when we were in Cleveland in September. I enjoyed them and my wife thought they were outstanding. Glad you mentioned them. I had forgotten that we wanted to try to buy some.

The main page has a button (“Join Our Tribe”) front and center that you click to get on the list. There isn’t an option to order directly besides the allocations. Outside of the list, you can try to pick some up on the secondary market although there isn’t a lot of it to be found. I could be missing your point altogether though. Not trying to be argumentative.

Don’t know what their production level is, but it’s nice to at least be able to try some wine without joining a tribe.

Maybe I’m missing the joke, but do you only buy wine when you’ve been able to try it beforehand?

Good Afternoon, Berserker Friends. Respect to all posters who keep this wine scene exciting & fresh.

Thanks for the nice comments. Some Original True Believers up in here!

Bobby - Glad you liked the 2012. I had the 2011 this weekend and it was pretty darn good. In my case, there is no correlation between wine and website quality, but a study should be done.

Nate - You’re cold as ice, but right about the website - it’s not the best! But I like it, plus, it’s got a nice picture of our winery. You should have seen the old one, BTW! As far as the Tribe goes, it’s not a real tribe. No blood oaths or formal allegiances need be given. It’s just for fun. About the ordering process, we have an active list and a wait list. We do 2 offerings a year. Before each offer, we send out a few emails describing the process. If there is wine left after the offer, we open up the wait list. We are small! If you do try it one day, I hope you like it!

Steve - the TB is Grenache-based and co-fermented from the hWa Vineyard here in Santa Maria and the AN is 100% Syrah from block 11D at Bien Nacido. I make the wines in the red barn by our house.

Larry - you’re my favorite Berserker

Jay - I’ve enjoyed your posts for many years. Thanks to Loren for sharing!

Much Love,

Chris

Chris, dig the feedback. Don’t change anything your doing except for maybe increasing production!

The '12 TB was easily one of the best wines I opened last year. Looking forward to the '13.