Kirsch liqueur, lavender, licorice, raspberry, and blueberry aromas jump from the glass of the 2007 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard. From one of the estate's oldest vineyards (34 years of age) planted with the Martini clone, it possesses a dark ruby/purple color, fabulous intensity, full-bodied power, and a 35-second finish, unusually long for a Pinot Noir. This beauty should age for a decade or more. One of the best wineries in Sonoma, Hartford Family Winery, under the guidance of winemaker Jeff Mangahas, continues to fine tune an impressive portfolio of wines, all from cool climate sites.

This is the first releases from the vineyard, Jackson Family Farms planted on several ridges in Annapolis, just inland from Peay. Fine oak (all French, 60 percent of it new) contributes to the grand cru beauty of the wine, enhancing the power of the fruit - tart cherry and pomegranate that start our transparent and grow more vibrant and lush as the flavors expand into the finish. It's a wine of considerable ripeness and intensity that's focused on harmony and grace. For crisp roast duck.

This is a very serious Pinot Noir, one that will benefit from cellaring despite the drink-me-now deliciousness. It's not just the fruit, which is deeply satisfying in cherries, raspberries, sweet rhubarb pie, blood oranges and juicy pomegranates. It's the structure. Crisp acids and silky tannins create a near-perfect architecture. Elegant and sophisticated, this wine should develop additional complexities for at least six years, with proper cellaring.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Court Chardonnay Fog Dance Vineyard reveals gregarious pink grapefruit, apple pie and green mango notions with nuances of marzipan, crusty bread and wet pebbles. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is solidly structured with great freshness, lifting the intense, tightly wound layers to a long earthy/minerally finish.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Court Chardonnay Stone Côte has lovely scents of lemon meringue pie, white peaches, honeyed pears and baking bread with touches of beeswax and toasted almonds. Medium to full-bodied, the palate sports wonderful harmony and a compelling creaminess to the texture with great freshness and a long peachy finish.

Exposed to the coast, this crisp white is racy with flavors of salty pretzel and apple skin. It offers impressive weight and viscosity interwoven with juicy acidity, allowing it to stay fresh and focused in the glass. Freshly squeezed lemon shows on the nose and palate, with a touch of brine and supportive oak.

From a site farmed by the Dutton family, this wine is beautifully aromatic in brioche and honey apple, with light toasted oak playing a supporting part. An underlying richness presents as expansive and fleshy on the robust palate, with high-toned offerings of peach and Gravenstein apple.

The 2013 Chardonnay Stone Cote Vineyard (572 cases produced) is fashioned from a specific block of vines that Don Hartford farms in the well-known Durell Vineyard. Fermented with indigenous yeast, it exhibits lots of white peach, orange blossom, pear and honeysuckle notes in its medium to full-bodied, gorgeously pure, textured personality. With terrific acidity as well as focus, it should drink well for 10+ years.

The 2007 Chardonnay Stone Cote is a limited cuvee of 740 cases that comes from a specific block in the Sonoma Coast’s Durell Vineyard. White peach, honeysuckle, unbuttered popcorn, and hints of tropical fruit and wet stone-like aromas and flavors are present in this full-bodied white. Good intensity, uplifting acidity, and excellent minerality suggest this stunning Chardonnay should drink well for 4-6 years.

The 2017s From Sonoma On another level, the 2017 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard is brilliant, ranking with the top Zinfandels in the vintage. Coming from a field blend (It’s mostly Zinfandel) from Hartford’s Estate Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, planted over 100 years ago, it offers an extraordinary bouquet of blue fruits, sandalwood, rose petals, and orange rind. Exotic, medium to full-bodied, incredibly seamless and elegant, and with a great finish, it’s a great bottle that’s capable of evolving for over a decade.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Zinfandel Dina's Vineyard is the clear standout in this range. Rich, sumptuous and beautifully layered in the glass, the 2017 hits all the right notes. Above all else, the Dina's Zinfandel is a wine of texture, but the presence of Alicante is felt as well.

Boisterous and ample, with tons of varietal character, the 2016 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard is superb. Explosive aromatics and rich, dense fruit are the signatures in this decidedly exuberant wine. Succulent black cherry, plum, new leather and menthol are some of the many notes that infuse this deep, plush Zinfandel.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard is medium garnet-purple colored and reveals a beautiful exotic fruit-laced nose of star anise, cassia and cumin seed over a core of Black Forest cake, Christmas pudding and wilted roses. The palate is full-bodied and firmly structured, sporting oodles of freshness framing the flamboyant red and black fruit preserves, Finishing long and spicy.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard is medium to deep garnet-purple in color and gives up intense notes of crushed black cherries, mulberries, plum preserves and blackberry compote with hints of star anise, cracked black pepper, hoisin and potpourri plus a waft of stewed tea. Full, concentrated and decadent in the mouth, it has a firm backbone of chewy tannins and wonderful freshness lifting the opulent fruit to a very long finish.

The 2015 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard comes from head-trained vines planted over 100 years ago, and they are incredibly low-yielding. The wine was aged in 100% French oak, of which 50% is new, and like all these wines, was bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is a big wine at 15.2% natural alcohol, but there’s not a bit of heat to it. Its flamboyant, dramatic aromatics consist of black fruits, red fruits, licorice, roasted herbs, and smoked game. The wine has fabulous fruit on the attack, is full-bodied, and the red and black fruit combo follows through to a long finish of a good 40+ seconds. This is a stunner to drink over the next 6-10 years.

The 2015 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard (another century-old parcel in the Russian River) shows tart acids, tangy red and black cherry fruit, notes of roasted meat, crushed pepper, and briary, zesty, classic Zinfandel flavors that tip the scales at 15.5% natural alcohol. This is big, juicy, succulent Zinfandel with great acid. Drink it over the next decade.

The Hartford Vineyard, in the backyard of the Hartford home, is another century-old planting of head-pruned Zinfandels, and their lowest yielding old-vines. Aged in 40% new oak for nine months prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered, the 2014 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard also shows great fruit, loads of black raspberries, black cherries, licorice, grilled herbs and a very Mediterranean full-bodied mouthfeel. Drink it over the next 7-8 years.

One of the highlights in this range of Zinfandels, the 2014 Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard is also one of the very best wines in the entire lineup. Lifted and gracious on the palate, the Fanucchi-Wood Road has a very distinctive red fruit profile that can probably be traced back to the Carignane that is planted here. Today, the 2014 is absolutely compelling.

There are 336 cases of the 2013 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard, which comes from vines planted over 100 years ago on the estate vineyard of the Hartford Family Winery. Aged in 100% French oak (35% new), this wine possesses fabulous fruit intensity as well as abundant notes of black raspberries, blackcurrants and cherries intermixed with licorice, earth, vanillin and spice box. Full-bodied and powerful with massive fruit, opulence and a long finish that lasts nearly 40 seconds, this sensational Zinfandel can be drunk over the next 7-8 years.

The 2013 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard is another drop-dead gorgeous wine in this range. Bright, floral and exuberant, with superb delineation and class, the Fanucchi-Wood Road possesses remarkable complexity. Silky tannins provide the backdrop as this polished Zinfandel shows off its personality. Hints of pomegranate, blood orange and flowers add the final layers of nuance. This is one of the best wines I tasted at Hartford on my most recent visit.

The 2013 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard (264 cases produced) was aged in 100% French oak of which 51% was new. This killer Zin includes a dollop of Petite Sirah. Its opaque purple color is accompanied by notes of licorice, incense, blackcurrants and black cherries, bay leaf, spice box, and pepper. This full-bodied stunner should drink well for 7-8 years or longer.

The 2012 Zinfandel Highwire Vineyard, a site that is half head-pruned and half on a high wire trellising system, sees more new French oak (52%), and achieved 15.5% natural alcohol. A dense ruby/purple color is followed by a rich, full-bodied wine displaying lots of boysenberry, black raspberry and cherry fruit intermixed with hints of incense and Asian spice. Supple tannins and a big, pedal-to-the-metal, juicy, succulent style suggest it will drink well for 5-6 years.

The 2009 Zinfandel Highwire Vineyard is the only parcel of the Hartford Zinfandels where 50% of the vineyard is head-pruned 99-year old Zinfandel and the balance is wire-trained, which is unusual. It exhibits a beautiful floral berry note, a Pinot Noir-like delicacy and sensibility, medium to full-bodied flavors and stunning purity, fleshiness and texture. Like its siblings, it is complex, supple textured, full-bodied, and a tour de force in Zinfandel wine production. It should drink nicely for 5-7 years. One of the top Zinfandel specialists in California is Don Hartford at Jess Jackson's Hartford winery. They also produce an impressive portfolio of Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays under the Hartford Court label. These five Zinfandels all come from dry-farmed, low-yielding, old vine Russian River sites.

There are nearly 300 cases of the 2009 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard, another century old vine Zinfandel. The most concentrated, lavishly rich, exuberant offering in this portfolio, it boasts a dense ruby/purple color in addition to an extra gear or two as well as abundant amounts of boysenberry, blueberry and black raspberry fruit intermixed with spice, pepper and hints of wood. With beautiful purity and vivaciousness, this prodigious Zinfandel is about as good as it gets for this varietal. Drink this opulent, flamboyant Zin over the next 5-7 years. One of the top Zinfandel specialists in California is Don Hartford at Jess Jackson's Hartford winery. They also produce an impressive portfolio of Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays under the Hartford Court label. These five Zinfandels all come from dry-farmed, low-yielding, old vine Russian River sites.

The powerhouse 2008 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard, from 95-year old vines, hides its rather formidable alcohol level beautifully (it's a great example of why technical numbers add up to nothing). A deep ruby/purple color is accompanied by glorious aromas of blackberries, boysenberries, raspberries, earth, and spice. Full-bodied as well as remarkably elegant and textured, this beauty is an exquisite example of old vine Zinfandel from northern California. Drink it over the next 7-8 years. …proprietors Don and Jennifer Hartford not only produce superb Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, but also some of the finest Zinfandels made in northern California.