Hartford Family Wines
Hartford Family Wines may be part of the Kendall-Jackson legacy but don’t expect to find your butter bombs here. Their Dina’s Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel was featured in a recent Wine Spectator for achieving 95points at only $60/bottle. I decided to see what else they might have hiding in their cellars.
We decided to taste at their winery in Forestville, CA. They also have a tasting room in Healdsburg which is more convenient, but it’s a beautiful estate with lots of outdoor seating, landscaped grounds, and views of the vineyards.
The tasting was $40pp, and we tasted EIGHT wines! (Definitely a good value there.) We started off with three Chardonnay’s of the 2020 Seven’s Bench, the 2021 Jennifer’s Vineyard, and the 2017 Radian we felt the Seven’s was the most complex with a nutty nose and notes of vanilla, apple, and marshmallow. The Radian however did prove these wines can age with its beautiful amber color. It had smoked paprika on the nose and floral notes which we thought might pair well with BBQ shrimp or Thai food.
Next came the Pinots. We tried the Seascape ,the Velvet Sisters and the Warrior Princess (named after Xena!) While the Seascape was high salinity with notes of cranberry, the Xena’s was more of a fruit bomb with blueberry, orange peel, and hazelnuts. Taste the terroir! We also thought the Velvet Sisters had a full story but as it was already drinking well with no significant tannins we didn’t think it would age well. Drink now or forever hold your peace?
Our final two glasses were the 2021 Jolene’s and the 2016 Outer Limits Syrah. Jolene’s was full of cracked black pepper, sour apple, and cranberry cocktail while Outerlimits definitely requires a steak or brisket to compliment it’s smoke, blackberry cherry, and paprika. Husband also learned a new favorite phrase: diametric earth.
All of these were priced well (although the Dina’s was $65, not $60. Sadly a bottle was not open to sample. I’d love to come back and try it one day as well as the Jurassic Chenin Blanc and other bottles.
