Milla Handley: Anderson Valley individualist

Wines & Vines, Feb, 2003 by Jean Deitz Sexton

Sprinting toward the finish of the 2002 harvest, Milla Handley, winemaker-owner of Handley Cellars, shuttles from her paper-stuffed office to the crush and back again, as her production crew peppers her with questions. She's exhausted, but wouldn't trade a minute of it.

Stop! What is the great-great-granddaughter of Henry Weinhard doing making wine? Blasphemy!

Handley, whose mother, Milla Hart, is the great-granddaughter of the famed Oregon brewer, decided in the early '70s to depart from the family's brewing tradition with the same old-fashioned Yankee independence she asserts in all aspects of her life.

It appears to have been the right move. The Anderson Valley winery is celebrating 20 years of survival in the mercurial wine business and the growing industry recognition for its consistently well-crafted but affordable sparkling wines and varietals.

Handley takes a coffee break in the cozy winery kitchen, dishwasher humming nearby, but her staff soon finds her and the barrage of inquiries begins again. It's clear that this plainly dressed woman with the direct gaze is in charge of the show. That's the only way she'll have it.

"Milla is her own woman. She knows what she wants," observes Ellen Springwater, hospitality and tasting room manager. "She's a quirky figurehead," Springwater laughs.

"I don't feel the necessity to take an iron hand and force something, to be totally controlling," Handley muses. Her loyal staff enjoys her straightforward style and light touch. Co-winemaker Deny Dudzik has been with her for 12 years and many other employees have long tenures.

Evolution

Born into a wealthy family--her father, Raymond, made his fortune in commercial real estate construction during Silicon Valley's boomtown years--Milla Handley grew up in the rarefied air of Los Altos Hills.

She could have chosen to join the country club set, while spending her free time riding horses, a passion she still pursues. Instead, she chose to attend UC Davis with an eye toward an art career. That didn't take. Next, she tried animal studies. Not a chance. "I didn't even like playing with the worms," Handley says.

Her dad's friend had a wine shop and Handley had enjoyed wine at the family dinner table. Since she could leave the worms in one piece, Handley migrated to studying fermentation science. She earned a B.S. degree in 1975.

After working three harvests as an assistant to Dick Arrowood, then winemaker at Chateau St. Jean, Handley and her husband, Rex McClellan, moved to the Boonville area in Anderson Valley. There he took a job as assistant to Navarro Vineyards founder Ted Bennett.

Handley took a year off to be with her infant daughter, then went back to work, first for Edmeades, and then for Jed Steele at Steele Wine, where she quickly moved up the ladder to oversee all white wines, the cellar, lab and quality control.

A Sparkling Dream

By 1981, however, Handley's singular spirit again kicked in, with full force. "I wanted to be my own boss. After awhile, you sit there and say, 'I would do it this way.' At some point you have to do it, not just say it."

Handley had a vision to make sparkling wine from Anderson Valley grapes, at a time when the appellation had minimal presence, if any.

"Milla was really a pioneer. When she started, the wine business here was pretty limited," says Andrea Lederle, Handley national sales manager.

At the time, Scharfenberger (now Pacific Echo) was just getting started and Roederer Estate had not yet established a presence. The individualistic Handley was undaunted.

In 1982 she and her husband founded Handley Cellars, at first making sparkling wine in the basement of their Philo home. An '83 Anderson Valley Brut was Handley's inaugural release.

"I liked the challenge of sparkling wine. As a winemaker, it's the extreme opposite of making a red wine. You intervene at many steps to affect the flavor. It seemed to me the best solution for the valley's cool climate. The fruit is very lean and bright and has a very high acidity," making it perfect for the production of sparkling wine, Handley says.

"We don't pick the fruit until September, so it gets to hang on the vine a little bit longer. Particularly in the Pinot noir, this gives us appropriate flavor maturity, away from the herbal, toward more intense fruit flavor," Handley explains.

Growth Curve

From the beginning, Handley bought some local fruit as well as grapes from her father, who owns 20 acres of Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Syrah in the Dry Creek Valley. Now, with a total production of about 15,000 cases and a full portfolio of sparkling and still wines, Milla Handley is her father's exclusive customer.

Handley Cellars' current portfolio breaks out roughly to 25-30% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot noir, 10-15% Sauvignon blanc, 5-10% Gewurztraminer, 5-10% sparkling wine and the rest, Pinot gris and other limited bottlings.

Patriarch Raymond Handley brought his sophisticated business sense, and a considerable amount of capital, to the Handley Cellars venture. In 1985, he financed the acquisition of two pieces of adjacent property, totaling 59 acres, in Philo. The land was originally part of a large homestead grant. Creating a working winery and vineyards had to be done from scratch.