Bob Sessions

{{Infobox person

| name = Bob Sessions

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Robert B. Sessions

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|12|11}}

| birth_place = Glendale, California, United States

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|05|13|1931|12|11}}

| death_place = Sonoma, California, United States

| other_names =

| occupation = Winemaker

| years_active = 1973-2001

| spouse = {{Plainlist|

{{Marriage|Molly Cross|December 19, 1959|2000|end=d.}}
{{Marriage|Jean Arnold|2002|2014}}

}}

| known_for = Winemaker at Hanzell Vineyards

| notable_works =

}}

Bob Sessions (December 11, 1931 – May 13, 2014) was an American winemaker. He was winemaker for Hanzell Vineyards for 28 years.

Early life

Robert Sessions was born in Glendale, California, in 1931. He attended the University of California, Berkeley. He earned a degree in English literature in 1957. After graduation, he traveled to France and Brussels. His trip to Europe started his interest in wine. Sessions would marry Mary J. Cross, known as Molly, on December 19, 1959.Ancestry.com. California, Marriage Index, 1949-1959 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Life in wine

Sessions was a self-taught winemaker. From 1964 until 1971, he worked at Mayacamas Vineyards. Next, he worked at Souverain as production manager.{{cite web|last1=Laube|first1=James|title=Former Hanzell Winemaker Bob Sessions Dies at 82|url=http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2014/05/14/hanzell-winemaker-bob-sessions-dies/|website=News|publisher=Wine Spectator|accessdate=20 September 2016}} He also worked at Stags Leap Wine Cellars, which he helped open. While at Stags Leap, he helped Warren Winiarski create and bottle the 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon that was blind tasted in the Judgement of Paris.{{cite web|last1=Woodsmall|first1=Michael|title=Flashback Friday: Bob Sessions helps found Stag's Leap|url=https://grapecollective.com/articles/flashback-friday-bob-sessions-helps-found-stags-leap|website=Grape Collective|accessdate=20 September 2016}}

=Hanzell Vineyards=

Sessions became winemaker and general manager at Hanzell Vineyards, in Sonoma, California, starting in 1973.{{cite book|author1=Tony DiDio|author2=Amy Zavatto|title=Renaissance Guide to Wine & Food Pairing|url=https://archive.org/details/renaissanceguide00didi|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Alpha|isbn=978-1-59257-114-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/renaissanceguide00didi/page/39 39]–45}} He was recruited by then Hanzell winemaker Brad Webb. Hanzell Vineyards became a family affair for the Sessions, with wife Molly helping to manage the property and son Ben working in hospitality. Molly worked at the winery until her death from ovarian cancer in 2000.{{cite web|last1=Emert|first1=Carol|title=Hanzell comes clean|url=http://www.sfgate.com/wine/article/Hanzell-comes-clean-When-an-historical-Sonoma-2553255.php#photo-2692239|website=SFGate|date=October 16, 2003 |accessdate=20 September 2016}}

At Hanzell, he created wines that Wine Spectator described as what "most winemakers could only dream of." He made primarily Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with a foray into Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1980s. In 1999, the winery named a vineyard block was named after Sessions.{{cite web|last1=Bonne|first1=Jon|title=Hanzell winemaker Bob Sessions dies|url=http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2014/05/14/hanzell-winemaker-bob-sessions-dies/|website=Inside Scoop SF|publisher=SF Gate|accessdate=20 September 2016}} Sessions also served as president at Hanzell, retiring in 2001 and becoming winemaker emeritus.

==Production methods==

His style was Burgundian in nature and Sessions was considered a "pioneer" for his early adoption of stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels. Despite being called a "pioneer," he respected the tradition of winemaking at Hanzell and sought to continue those traditions as winemaker.{{cite web|last1=Virbila|first1=S. Irene|title=Bob Sessions dies at 82; Hanzell Vineyards winemaker for 28 vintages|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-bob-sessions-20140519-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|date=May 19, 2014 |accessdate=20 September 2016}} Sessions utilized the same wine production method, year after year, during his career at Hanzell. Grapes were picked at their ripest, early in the harvest season. The Chardonnay was fermented in stainless tanks prior to being aged in barrel. He did little treatment to the wines as they aged, enabling the wine varietals to represent their terroir. He also filtered his wines.

Personal life and legacy

Sessions and his wife Mary (Molly) J. Cross raised two children, Sarah and Benjamin. Molly died of Ovarian cancer in 2000.{{cite web|last1=Frances|first1=D|title=Hanzell's Bob Sessions dies at 82|url=http://www.sonomanews.com/csp/mediapool/sites/SIT/News/story.csp?cid=3389262&sid=744&fid=181|website=Sonoma Index-Tribune|accessdate=20 September 2016}} Sessions would introduce his son, Ben, to cheesemaker and chef Sheana Davis. Davis became Sessions' daughter-in-law in 2016.{{cite web|last1=Stierch|first1=Sarah|title=Sonoma Chef Getting Back to Cheese|url=http://www.sonomamag.com/getting-back-to-cheese/|website=Sonoma Magazine|date=March 24, 2016 |accessdate=4 October 2016}}

Sessions married Jean Arnold in 2002. He met Arnold while she served as a consultant at Hanzell Winery. She became President of Hanzell when Sessions retired.{{cite web|last1=Furer|first1=David|title=Insider Interviews|url=http://sanfranciscowineschool.com/blogs/blog/19215171-insider-interviews-by-david-furer-presenting-jean-arnold-sessions|website=San Francisco Wine School|accessdate=20 September 2016}} After a few months of marriage, Sessions was diagnosed as suffering from dementia in 2003. In December 2012, Arnold announced that Sessions had Alzheimer's disease.{{cite web|last1=Teague|first1=Lettie|title=When a Great Winemaker Must Move On|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304549504579318840310372478|website=On Wine|publisher=The Wall Street Journal|accessdate=20 September 2016}} He had been suffering from the disease for almost ten years. He died on May 13, 2014, in Sonoma, California.

In 2014, a lot of wine called the "Hanzell Heritage Tribute" was auctioned at the Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction in memory of Sessions. The lot sold for $80,000.{{cite web|last1=Robertson|first1=Scott|title=Harvest Wine Auction shatters records|url=http://www.thevoe.com/harvest-wine-auction-shatters-records/|website=Scott Robertson Auctioneers|accessdate=20 September 2016}}