Acclaimed Mendocino County, California Winery Will Bring on Matt Parish as the New Winemaker Jeff Hansen of Lula Cellars in Anderson Valley, California
PHILO, CA – (May 16, 2017) – After more than three decades making award-winning California wines, Jeff Hansen is stepping down as winemaker at Lula Cellars, the label he named after his grandmother. He will retain the title of Founder, and will also serve as Winemaker Emeritus of the limited production, ultra-premium winery. Hansen will be staying on in a consulting capacity for a year to assist in the transition. As Winemaker Emeritus, he will be available to Lula Cellars for special projects, grower development and production tastings.
Jeff Hansen’s career in wine began in 1987 when he worked in the tasting room of Spring Mountain Vineyard in Napa Valley. That same year he made his first wine at home, a cabernet using grapes from Spring Mountain. Later, while working in sales for Spring Mountain, he discovered the coolest appellation in California, the Anderson Valley region in Mendocino County. He fell in love with this sparsely populated and ruggedly beautiful area, famed for its Pinot Noir grapes. In 1991, Jeff produced his first wines for Amici Cellars in Calistoga, and continued to make wines for the label for nearly twenty years. In 2009 he sold his interest in Amici and plotted his next step—a small batch Anderson Valley winery that would bear the name of his grandmother Lula. The winery he opened in 2010 is a tribute to his grandmother’s tenacity and optimism in the face of adversity. She was born in the Oklahoma Territory in 1879 and raised three children by herself while working multiple jobs with remarkable grace and optimism. Jeff cites her as his inspiration in life.
“I feel very fortunate to have been in the wine business for over 30 years, and to have been able to honor my grandmother in such a wonderful way,” states Hansen. “Lula Cellars is very close to my heart, and I look forward to continuing to watch the winery grow and evolve.”
The winery that bears his grandmother’s name was lauded from the very start, with their first 600 cases selling out. Since then, Jeff’s handcrafted Mendocino Coast and Anderson Valley wines—including Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Dry Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Rosato—have won both loyal fans and a plethora of gold medals. Lula’s policy of only selling directly to consumers, cutting out the distributors and retailers, ensures that their world class wines are accessible to all wine lovers. This down-to-earth philosophy is echoed across every aspect of Lula Cellars, especially in the lively tasting room, where visitors can be found daily, tasting wine at the hand-hewn redwood bar with their four-legged friends milling happily at their feet.
“I consider myself very blessed to have made so many lifelong friends in the industry over the years,” continues Hansen. “Now I’m looking forward to my retirement, and to traveling a bit and also enjoying this beautiful place I call home.”
Lula Tasting Room in Anderson Valley, California
About Lula Cellars
Lula Cellars is a small production, ultra-premium label with a yearly case production of 2,800 cases, comprised of Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Dry Gewurztraminer, Rosato (Rose of Pinot Noir) and Sauvignon Blanc. Lula Cellars produces wines entirely from vineyards in Mendocino County, California. Since 2010, Lula Cellars has built a reputation of integrity, positive customer relations and stellar wines. The goal of Lula Cellars is simple: to produce high quality, world-class wines and to offer them at prices that are reasonable, by selling directly to consumers (no distributors or retailers involved). For further information on Lula Cellars, please visit www.lulacellars.com.
About the Lula Cellars Property & Tasting Room
Lula Cellars makes its home on a 22-acre property in Philo, nestled amongst the rolling hills of bucolic Anderson Valley. Lula Cellars’ tasting room offers a unique experience for wine tasting. In addition to a tasting room, the property (with a quarter mile of frontage along Hwy 128 in Philo) features a pond, a 14-acre Pinot Noir vineyard, a small-production winemaking facility, and a newly opened 10,000 square foot “Events Area” that is available for weddings and other private events.
Located at 2800 Guntly Road in Philo (at the corner of Hwy 128 and Guntly Road), next door to Handley Cellars, the pet-friendly tasting room offers stunning views of the surrounding property and the lauded Pinot Noir growing area known as “The Deep End” in the west end of the Anderson Valley.
Lula Cellars tasting room is open daily, from 10 a.m.
