2018 Hartford Court Zinfandel Old Vine Hartford Vineyard
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Tasting notes
Tasted from an 18-cl mini bottle. From organically farmed vines over 100 years old. Fermented in small tanks, aged in French oak barrels for 10 months. The ripest of mulberries, so ripe and exuberant that it’s as if the very berries are exploding in my mouth. Almost sherbety, it has so much zing and energy and intensity and implosive excitement. This wine is humming. The acidity in this wine is stunning. The tannins are like tight biking-leather trousers: doing their job in a most practical, efficacious way, but also rather gorgeous. Tremendous balance for a wine this big. (TC)
Critic scores
Average Score
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Don and Jennifer Hartford tend this head-trained, 100+-year-old vineyard in the backyard of their home. The 2018 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard was aged in French oak, 56% new, for 10 months. Deep garnet-purple in color, it has a very peppery/spicy nose to begin—cinnamon, cloves and cardamom—with a core of blackberry pie, blueberry compote and warm plums plus touches of hoisin and unsmoked cigars. Full-bodied and laden with exotic spice and black fruit preserves layers, the generous fruit is well supported by velvety tannins and lovely freshness, finishing long and opulent. 245 cases were made.
The 2018 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard is another super-expressive wine in this range. Rose petal, mint, lavender and inky red and purplish fruit all infuse the 2018 with notable dimension that reveals itself fully with aeration. Head-trained vineyards in this site on Wood Road yield wines of real character. The 2018 is layered, silky, and most importantly, flat-out delicious.
Already bottled, the 2018 Zinfandel Russian River Valley has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and sings of blackberry pie, blueberry compote and raspberry preserves with hints of mossy tree bark, hoisin and Indian spices. Full-bodied, rich and spicy in the mouth, the palate features firm, chewy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing on a lingering raisin cake note. 2,400 cases were made.