The 2017s From Sonoma Looking first at the whites, the 2016 Chenin Blanc Jurassic Vineyard comes from a site in the Santa Ynez Valley and offers notes of white flowers, quince, peach, and a hint of rocky minerality. It’s medium-bodied, with bright acidity and a clean finish.

Bright yellow. Restrained but focused aromas of pear, dusty stone, jasmine and vanillin oak. Broad, dense and tactile, with good mineral lift to the urgent flavors of white peach, orchard fruits and white flowers. The long, energetic finish displays admirable finesse and clarity.

Lots of spice along with a veritable fruit cocktail of complex flavors open this understated performer. From green apple and bosc pears to melon and mint, it has an elegant integration of fruit and spicy, vanillin oak. Tangy acidity keeps it lively, and the wine finishes crisp and dry. Still tight, this could use a year to knit itself together.

...a dead ringer for a high class Burgundy. This wine exhibits a smoky, honeyed citrus, orange rind, lusciously fruity personality with underlying minerals. Add to that impressive delineation that is rare for a wine if this richness and size. Still youthful and backward, it promises to evolve gracefully for 2-5 years.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Chardonnay (Russian River) is a delicious entry-level Chardonnay from Hartford Court. Yellow orchard fruit and expressive floral notes are nicely pushed forward in this very pretty, open-knit Chardonnay.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Chardonnay Four Hearts Vineyards is another pretty, appellation-level Chardonnay from Hartford Court. Apricot, orange peel, spice, chamomile and lightly buttered notes flesh out in this resonant, inviting Chardonnay. My impression is that the Four Hearts will drink best upon release.

Medium-light golden yellow; attractive, slightly buttery, apple and white peach aroma with hints of honeysuckle, brioche, hazelnut, ginger, and butterscotch; medium to medium-full body; rich, fleshy, apple and lemon-lime flavors with bright acidity, and a slight creaminess in the mouthfeel; lingering aftertaste. Very highly recommended.

The appellation 2016 Chardonnay Russian River Valley is a barrel fermented and aged white sourced from all the estate properties. Spiced pineapple, pear, seashell, and some lemon peel notes all emerge from this medium-bodied effort that has good intensity and depth, a light texture, and nicely integrated acidity. It shows the more elegant style of the vintage but puts on weight with time in the glass. It should drink nicely for 3-4 years.

The Surprise of 2015 in Napa and Other California Wine Reviewed A soft and juicy chardonnay with lots of pralines, cooked apples and toasted oak character. Full body, lots of flavor and a slightly oily finish. Full style. Drink now.

Lots of vitality emerges from the zesty core of tangerine, nectarine, citrus and green apple flavors, picking up a light spicy oak edge and ending with a long, persistent finish.

Pale gold. Deeply pitched pit and orchard fruit scents are enlivened by smoky mineral and orange zest qualities and pick up a floral nuance with air. Sappy and slow to open, offering densely packed pear and nectarine flavors and a hint of ginger. Finishes long and pure, with resonating minerality and lingering honeysuckle and citrus pith notes.

A blend of several vineyards, this Chardonnay captures the exquisite ripeness and tart acidity of the valley. It’s lush in apricots, oranges, pineapples and honey, with the buttered toast and vanilla of French oak barrels. Sure is tasty for drinking now.

From the Jackson family's vineyard in Annapolis, this wine developed an herbal ripeness in 2010. Oak layers smoke, cinnamon and nutmeg over a base of fresh apricot flavor. It's rich and intriguing, a velvet-textured pleasure that would stand up to spicy dishes, like a Moroccan tagine.

Bright yellow. Pungent pineapple, tangerine and peach aromas are complicated by smoky minerals and ginger. Rich and weighty but energetic, offering sappy citrus and tropical fruit flavors and a chewy texture. Impressively lively on the finish, leaving notes of spices and citrus zest behind.

Lightly hazy yellow. Smoky aromas of white peach, fig, wild herbs, iodine and vanilla. Round and fleshy on the palate, with intriguing flavors of tangerine, pit fruits, smoky lees and flowers. There's lively acidity here, but it comes on late, adding energy to the wine's sweet fruit. Silky, understated chardonnay with impressive finishing sappiness and cling.

The scent of heirloom cider apples lends this chardonnay a refreshing edge. It's blended from estate grown fruit and purchased grapes from four districts of the Russian River Valley. The richness from barrel fermentation combines with clean, lemony fruit, together feeling supple, round and effortless. For veal in a cream sauce.

Bright gold. Potent orchard fruit and floral scents are complemented by smoky lees and sweet butter. Finely etched pear and guava flavors coat the palate, taking on a spicy quality on the back end. Blends richness and energy deftly and finishes with excellent clarity and length. There are 790 cases of this wine, which is made from a selection of barrels.

From a far-coast vineyard near Occidental, this Chardonnay is all curves - a renaissance still like of buxom pears and peaches. It feels smooth and soft, with the peppery warmth of alcohol that comes in a wine of this ripeness. But it hasn't lost the detail that defines its scents of wildflower honey, of loquat and Meyer lemon. Serve cellar temperature with grilled black cod.

Light gold. Fresh lime and orange on the nose, along with honeysuckle and dusty minerals. Bright and juicy, with suave citrus and honey flavors underscored by tangy lemon zest and quinine. Refreshing, sharply focused and strikingly pure, with excellent finishing lift and cut.

The two Chardonnays are both brilliant wines, with the 2006 Chardonnay Four Hearts a multiple-vineyard blend exhibiting loads of tropical fruit, some poached pear, and apple marmalade notes followed by full-bodied flavors with subtle wood, nice, leesy, chewy texture, and a good finish with fresh acidity and depth. It is best drunk in its next several years of life.

Another beautiful California Chardonnay with elegant structure and bright stone fruit.

This isn't one of Hartford's single vineyard Chards, but a blend from around RRV. It's a very elegant, balanced wine, with complexity and charm; 100% barrel fermented, it shows oak-influenced flavors of Meyer lemons, pineapple sorbet and rich Gravenstein apple butter

2005 HARTFORD COURT CHARDONNAY FOUR HEARTS A new offering, the 2005 Chardonnay Four Hearts is a 11,000-case cuvee of stunning Chardonnay. Beautiful aromas of honeysuckle, peach blossoms, poached pears, and subtle wood are present in this well-made, elegant crisp, aromatically expressive white. Medium to full-bodied, long, and pure, it should provide plenty of pleasure over the next 3-4 years. This is one of my favorite wineries for Burgundian-styled Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs as well as full-throttle Zinfandels (although the 2005s are lighter than usual). Don Hartford and Jess Jackson have incredible access to some fabulous vineyards.

2 Puffs, 91 Points Hartford Court Stone Côte Vineyard 2004 Sonoma Coast. Deep, ripe and rich with a handsomely balanced blend of obviously stated but never overdone apples, pears and creamy oak in its outgoing aromas, this wine has a plush, viscous feel at entry and sports a much appreciated stratum of buoyant acidity that uplifts its juicy, tasty, showy flavors across the palate and all the way into a very long and broad finish. It delivers a lot to like today, yet the wine has the depth and balance to grow a bit with a few years of bottle age.

Pale lemon-yellow. Bright, ripe, complex aromas of crystallized citrus fruits, smoke and flint. Juicy and fruit-driven, with very good breadth and sweetness. For a wine in a very ripe style, this finishes firm and gripping.