The 1999 Pinot Noir Sevens Bench Vineyard comes from a vineyard planted largely with French Dijon clones. This seven-year old vineyard, which was cropped at two tons of fruit per acre, has produced an opaque purple-colored, dense, full-bodied, superbly concentrated Pinot with plenty of creamy black fruits intermixed with smoke, toast, and spice. Rich, with moderate tannin, sweet levels of glycerin, and enough acidity to provide delineation, this opulently-styled Pinot Noir can be drunk now, or cellared for 6-8 years. Very impressive!

Coastal winds infused this wine with a taste of the sea, with floral scents of thyme and honey, with a sea-salt rasp of minerals. It's tightly wound, but the flavors play out complex and long. Decant a bottle for a roast halibut.

This Pinot is a full percentage point lower in alcohol by volume than the winery’s Russian River bottlings, and that shows in the delicacy of mouthfeel and crisp acidity. There’s nothing shy about the flavors, though, which range from ripe raspberries and cherries through red currants and red licorice to savory notes of bacon and tobacco. Drink now–2020.

Pinot Noir World Series

Bright ruby. Pungent cherry and dark berry aromas are complicated by Indian spice and floral nuances. Broad and chewy in texture, offering sappy blackberry and cherry-cola flavors that provide impressive palate coverage. Gripping tannins build on the long, spicy finish, which leaves notes of bitter cherry and candied lavender behind.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Pinot Noir Jennifer's offers an intriguing combination of super-ripe red fruit and also bright acids that give the wine its distinctive feel. Succulent red cherry, hard candy, wild flowers and bright, piercing acids give the Jennifer's its distinctive personality and feel.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Pinot Noir Land's Edge Vineyards is a fabulous appellation-level wine. Bright, focused and wonderfully nuanced, the Land's Edge offers compelling balance as well as a real feeling of harmony. Savory herb, floral and dark red tones are finely cut.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Pinot Noir Seascape Vineyard is wonderfully fragrant and lifted. Dried cherry, autumn leaves, spice, crushed flowers, mint and raspberry are all laced together in this effortless, lilting Pinot. The Seascape is one of the more delicate, lithe wines in this range from Hartford Court.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Pinot Noir (Russian River) is another gorgeous appellation-level wine in this range that speaks with real personality. Plump, juicy and inviting, the 2016 has so much to offer. Bright red cherry, plum, hard cola and sweet floral notes add nuance to this succulent Pinot Noir.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Pinot Noir Velvet Sisters is plump and juicy in the glass, with tremendous fruit presence and lovely overall intensity. Forward and succulent in feel, the 2016 will drink well with minimal cellaring. The Velvet Sisters is one of the more open-knit, accessible wines in this range.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Jennifer's is the most powerful and bombastic of these wines. There is plenty of Russian River flamboyance. Super-ripe black cherry, plum, cola, spice and licorice all come to life. The Jennifer's will appeal most to readers who enjoy racy, opulent Pinots. For all of its flavor intensity, the 2015 preserves quite a bit of brightness.

Medium ruby; attractive, forward, deep, spicy, raspberry and black cherry fruit aroma with hints of baking spices and damp earth; medium-full body; rich, layered, red fruit flavors with good depth and concentration, and undertones of spicy oak; medium to medium-full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Deserves several more years of bottle aging. Very highly recommended.

Medium-light to medium ruby color; attractive, forward, black cherry aroma with spicy notes and hints of forest floor; medium to medium-full body; rich, deep, textured, dark cherry fruit flavors with a hint of mocha; medium to medium-full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Very appealing to taste now, though deserving a few more years of bottle aging. Very highly recommended.

The first of the two reds was the 2015 Hartford Family Winery Warrior Princess Block Zena Crown Vineyard pinot noir, which has a deep, serious nose boasting aromas of briar berry compote, dark dusty cocoa, graphite, lavender, tar and candied red apple. It’s nimble on the palate, exhibiting youthful finesse. The gorgeous tannins provide a sturdy frame, but don’t overpower while the acid is spot-on. Though I wouldn’t call the structure elegant, it has skillfully found a balance between power and finesse that’s intriguing. In the flavor department you get black and boysenberry, very dark chocolate, rose petals, lavender, Herbs de Provence, and wet soil. Though it’s good now, it will be better in five years. 92 points, value: C.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Hailey's Block is tightly wound and reticent next to the other wines in the range, but it nevertheless offers striking purity in its raspberry, blood orange and pomegranate flavors. I would prefer to cellar the 2015 for at least a year or two, as it is not ready to offer maximum pleasure just yet.

The only 2014 tasted was the early-bottled 2014 Pinot Noir Land’s Edge Vineyards, which come from a vineyard four miles from the Pacific Ocean. Aged in 32% new French oak, the wine displays raspberry and blueberry fruit, damp earth, fresh porcini mushrooms and plenty of minerality. This is a juicy, tightly knit, but concentrated and promising Pinot Noir that has that forward fruit of this vintage well displayed.

Medium-light ruby; attractive, floral, raspberry and cherry fruit aroma with hints of clove, anise, and pepper; medium body; spicy, elegant, nicely balanced, red fruit flavors with bright acidity and some suppleness in the silky mouthfeel; medium tannin; lingering aftertaste. Very highly recommended.

Hartford Court’s Pinot Noirs are also extremely successful, and of course, they make a bevy of them. I tasted eleven separate selections, all of them priced between $50 and $75 a bottle with the exception of the Arrendell, which comes from the oldest vines of the whole batch and sells for $110. The 2014 Pinot Noir Marin emerges from that wealthy county on the western side of the Golden Gate Bridge, where few vineyards are located. Aged 17 months in 37% new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered, this comes from Dijon clone 828 and offers up the classic Burgundian notes of forest floor, pomegranate, plum, and smoky black cherries and strawberries. A Côte de Nuits-like Pinot Noir that is medium-bodied, but beautifully fruited and savory, it should be drunk it over the next 7-8 years.

Medium-light to medium ruby; attractive, earthy, cherry and strawberry fruit aroma with hints of clove, cinnamon, anise, and forest floor; medium to medium-full body; moderately rich, elegantly styled, red fruit flavors with firm acidity, notes of baking spices, and a pleasing, silky mouthfeel; medium tannin; lingering aftertaste. Very highly recommended.

Dark reddish purple color in the glass. Aromas of peat and mulch with shy fruits on the nose. The hedonistic fruit in this well endowed wine is more expressive on the palate, offering waves of boysenberry and blackberry flavors accented with spice, dark chocolate and beef. Still somewhat primary, and almost overwhelming in intensity, with an overlay of oak and youthful tannins that need more time to integrate.

Moderately dark reddish purple hue in the glass. Thiol-driven aromas of dark red and black fruits with a modest oak overlay. Impressive mid palate presence with a luscious finish featuring dark red and black fruits framed by firm but not muscular tannins.

The 2013 Pinot Noir Lands Edge Vineyard comes from a site situated less than five miles from the Pacific Ocean. Its deep ruby/plum color is followed by notes of charcoal, spring flowers, red and blackcurrants and cherries. Savory, ripe, elegant, and fresh, it can be drunk over the next 5-7 years.

Moderate reddish purple hue in the glass. Oak-dusted dark red cherry and berry fruits are featured with complimentary notes of herbs and oakdriven vanillin, toast and nuts. Smoothly texture and juicy with fine-grain tannins and a determined finish.

Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. Moderately dark reddish purple color in the glass. Redder fruits are featured on the nose and palate with an earthy, grilled mushroom undertone. Modest in weight with balanced tannins and a sweet cherry finish that offers some length. This wine aims to please now.

The 2013 Pinot Noir Hailey’s Block, which comes from a cool hillside vineyard in Green Valley, was aged in 28% new French oak. This is a more structured, tighter-coiled and earthy style of Pinot Noir meant for aging. It is elegant. Pomegranate, plum and black cherry notes jump from the glass along with underbrush and spice box. It is medium-bodied and pure, with the grip of tannins present in the finish. This should be given another year or so of bottle age and drunk over the following decade.