By Duane Pemberton
Winery website: http://www.hartfordwines.com/
Hartford Family Cellars is clearly a Sonoma winery that’s dedicated to the art of making fine wines – although a good deal of its wines are well aboe the $50 mark, this little gem is only $32 and packs enough punch to take-on many White Burgundies at twice its price.
Technical Data:
- Fermentation: Partial barrel and partial tank
- Oak 100% French – 28% new
- Time in oak: 10 months
- Alcohol: 14.2%
- TA: 5.2 g/l
- pH: 3.57
- Price: $32
Nose: Cantaloupe, honeydew, honeysuckle, grilled pineapple, hazelnuts, lavender, fresh biscuits and a nice hint of baked apple/pear pie.
Taste: Right off the bat, I can tell you that this is easily one of, if not the best “new world” chardonnay’s I’ve ever had. It has stellar fruit, a beautiful roundness on the palate along with enough acid to keep it from ever feeling flabby. The complexity going on here between the fresh melon, butterscotch-laced hazelnuts, pears and finish is sublime – I’d love to have this wine with prosciutto-wrapped melon balls. It’s a steller bottle of chardonnay and one that proves we can compete with domestic Chardonnay on a global scale.
