Making delicious wines of high personality is directly related to the difficult locations of our vineyard sources, the limited production of our bottlings and the varietals we use. “Character through adversity” is an expression that we believe applies to people and grapevines and surviving adversity builds character, and personality, in both.
Hartford Family Winery specializes in making wines from single vineyard sites. In recent vintages we have made about 25 different single vineyard bottlings. Small and low-yielding vineyards deliver expressive and personality-rich wine. Our single vineyard Hartford Court Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays total as few as 93 cases, up to about 800 cases. Likewise, our Hartford Old Vine Zinfandels are produced in small quantities. Our single vineyard wines are highly allocated.
We love Pinot Noir and in many years make about 15 of them with fruit from the Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Green Valley, Carneros, Anderson Valley, Marin, Sta. Rita and Oregon appellations. We feel that Pinot Noir makes the most seductive red wine, notable for its supple, silky texture. Pinot Noir is also known for expressing vineyard site characteristics in a transparent manner.
Cool climate Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley Chardonnay vineyards are singularly expressive. Those that are planted with multiple clones, specially matched to their sites, also reflect the distinctive terroir in these high-risk, high-reward locations.
Our 80-100 year old Zinfandel vineyards are irreplaceable treasures. We source our vineyard-designated Russian River Valley Zinfandels (150-500 cases) from some of the oldest Zinfandel vineyards in California. The complexity and depth of flavors from these vineyards produce the most consistently bold and unctuous Zinfandels found anywhere.
In addition to our small vineyard-designated bottlings, we make a Russian River Chardonnay, Russian River Pinot Noir and Russian River Zinfandel that are made from a handful of vineyards each year. These Russian River Vineyard Cuvées are now found in some of the world’s most prestigious restaurant retailers worldwide.
This mountain grown wine shows expresses ripe fruits of the warm days and the acid balance from the cool nights. Vibrant fruit aromas of blueberry, raspberry, and plum are the hallmarks of the aromatics along with a subtle cedar/cigar box note. These aromatics lead into voluptuous flavors of berries and spice in this structured, yet lively Pinot Noir.
In the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County the local residents speak an obscure dialect of English known as Boontling, developed in the late 1800s. The “Muldune Trail” was a term used in Anderson Valley lore o¬en describing the road traversing the ridge to Ukiah. There are other definitions of hitting the “Muldune Trail” that we will leave to the drinker to discover!
Review:
Pouring a deep ruby, the 2021 Pinot Noir Muldune Trail is more extracted with kirsch, polished leather, lavender, and pine. Full-bodied, this is the most powerful wine in this lineup, while having a luxurious feel, a velvety texture, and plushness throughout. Offering notes of turned soil and wooded earth, with meaty berry fruit and black tea, it’s a substantial wine but is well-made. Drink 2025-2040.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
59% Pinot Noir, 41% Chardonnay
An extremely fine and grouped effervescence. The dress is crystalline, luminous, and slightly golden. The nose is fruity, fresh, and tangy. Both greedy and elegant, it expresses pastry notes and aromas of fresh fruit: nougat, frangipane, candied orange, and mirabelle plum. A delicate note of passe-crassane pear carrying a touch of Williams pear liqueur can be guessed. A tonic wine, with a nice tension around the aromas of fresh fruits. Nectarine, yellow peach, and a tangy note of rhubarb develop in the mouth. The end of the mouth is clean, frank, saline, and mineral leaving a touch of bitterness and verbena.
Review:
Having retained all its youthful acidity because there was no malolactic fermentation, the Champagne is brilliantly lit. Acidity and a light texture from the Pinot Noir in the blend give the wine a crisp edge with still-young citrus.
-Wine Enthusiast 94 Points
A firm, focused version, this swathes a chiseled spine of acidity in a raw, silky texture and finely meshed flavors of yellow peach, orange liqueur, honeycomb and chopped almond. A rich streak of salinity drives the well-cut, spiced finish. Drink now through 2035.
-Wine Spectator 94 Points
In 1992 the Hill-Smith family counted themselves amongst those fortunate enough to own a vineyard upon the famous Coonawarra terra rossa soil over limestone. Experimentation, innovation, minimalist intervention and small batch winemaking has resulted in The Menzies’ reputation as a wine of longevity, elegance and structure.
Situated in the heart of Coonawarra’s terra rossa strip, The Menzies Estate vineyard lies on a flat plain, approximately 70km from the coast. Given the terrain and influence of the cooling Bonney upwelling, Coonawarra is an ideal location to grow premium Cabernet Sauvignon. Our soil is red sandy loam over limestone, which is classic Cabernet Sauvignon country. The grapes for The Menzies 2017 are from vines planted in 1994 and 1996. Bunches are usually small with small berries, giving concentration via an ideal skin to juice ratio favouring the making of fullbodied reds.
Experimentation, innovation, minimalist intervention, and small batch winemaking has resulted in The Menzies' reputation as a wine of longevity, elegance, and structure.
Aromas of fresh rosemary, mulberry, violets and exotic spices. Take a sip and you will feel the poise and tension for which great Cabernet is renowned. A wine of great complexity with flavors of blackcurrant, bitter chocolate, and mulberries, wrapped in divine tannins and a lovely sweet, dark fruit finish. With decanting in its youth, it is enjoyable as an elegant full-bodied red wine.
Review:
The 2017 The Menzies Cabernet Sauvignon is looking good next to the 2016 tasted beside it. It is fresh and vibrant, with layers of complexing dark earth characters, with cigar box, black olive brine, cassis, bramble, milk chocolate and cracked black pepper. This is very good, and it has what I am coming to recognize as a "Yalumba red character": dried herbs, particularly oregano. The juicy splay of fruit through the finish is a highlight.
-Wine Advocate 95 Points