Yes, Sonoma, you can now taste inside a giant, 120-year-old redwood wine tank—and a visit this summer is so worth your time.
After 38 harvests in Sonoma Valley, a tasting room of his own is a dream come true for winemaker Bart Hansen of Glen Ellen’s Dane Cellars.
“I’m a cellar rat,” says Hansen. “And what better place for a cellar rat to share his wines than in a tank? I always felt like if I ever opened a tasting room, it was going to have to be something special.”
Tasting inside a historic redwood wine tank is as much fun as you might imagine. First of all, it’s been beautifully redone inside, with a stand-up tasting bar and big photos of Hansen and his son, Dane, working the harvest.
The wines are top-notch: Hansen has connections to some of the valley’s best fruit, including Grenache and Mourvèdre from Rossi Ranch, Sauvignon Blanc from Beltane Ranch, and Zinfandel from Rancho Agua Caliente.
The tunes in the background will be great—Hansen is a connoisseur of Americana roots and country with an epic Spotify playlist (you know things are about to pop off when Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll hits the speakers).
And, true to his side gig as co-host of a popular wine podcast, Hansen can spin a terrific tale, from singing the praises of a favorite bottling to how he imagines it might have been to make wine back at the time the tank was first built (“most likely they were all blended lots, pressed off, loaded into barrels and then put on a train to the city”).
As a longtime member of the board of the local vintners and growers association, Hanson says he hopes guests gain a better understanding of the complexity and history of Sonoma Valley wines, and how important family farming is to the valley, including how much he and his fellow winemakers owe to the land.
In Hansen’s company, you can feel the history of the valley in a genuine, down-to-earth kind of way.
“This place has got soul,” says Hansen. “And that’s the most important thing.”
Across from the Jack London Village shopping center along Arnold Drive in Glen Ellen. Tastings from $45 per person. 707-529-5856, danecellars.com
