By Duane Pemberton
Winery website: www.hartfordwines.com
If ever there was an appropriate name for a wine, it’s this “Highwire” from Hartford Family Wines out of Sonoma. It is, quite simply, one of the best Zinfandel’s I’ve ever had as it completely embodies everything I adore about this varietal. The spice, texture, aromas and that sense of “palate reach-around” that a well-made Zinfandel delivers.
Technical Data:
- Oak: 100% French oak; 45% new
- Time in oak: 11 months
- Yeast: Native and cultured
- Alcohol: 15.7%
- TA: 7.2g/L
- pH: 3.45
- Cases produced: 420
- Price: $55
Nose: Spiced old-shoe leather that’s been soaking in boysenberry, black raspberry, blackberry compote, fennel, cigar and dark chocolate.
Taste: A spicy concoction of spiced, blackened red fruits, plum and blackberry going on in this glass – it has a sublime combination of fruit, acid and tannin. It’s so well structured – it is easily one of the best red-wines I’ve ever had, bar-none. Superb fruit, mid-palate transition with good “roundness” and a linger finish that begs you to hit it again and again.
