Beginner

[Maldon]

What does anybody know about Hartford Chardonnay 1999? I tried some and it was great. What kind of reputation do they have?

[Innkeeper]

Hi Maldon, and welcome to the Wine Board. It comes in a variety of bottlings all priced in the $20s. It is widely available. Don't have any personal experiance with it, as I don't care for California Chardonnay normally.

[dananne]

Welcome to the board!

I don't have any experience with Hartford's chards, but I'm a fan of their pinots. They do a good job, and I feel like their P/Q is pretty good. I posted favorably on their '99 back in April in the pinot noir thread.

[Maldon]

Help me out. What exactly are Pinots? What makes them unique?

[Thomas]

Good question, Maldon. Most people mean pinot noir when they say pinot.

But there are other pinot grape varieties: pinot blanc, pinot gris (grigio), pinot meunier. In the old days, wine people believed that chardonnay was a pinot; labels sometimes referred to pinot chardonnay, but that was proved untrue.

By the way, pinot is a family of grape varieties identified by their similarities-- how they look, how they grow and the way they act in the vineyard, and of course, their DNA.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 06-24-2003).]

[dananne]

Terribly sorry! Pinot noir is a grape generally making a red wine (though it is also used, at times, to make a rose, and it is used in champagne). Hartford makes some very nice pinot noirs, but I have not tried their chardonnay.

[randery]

I did recently taste a Hartford chard but I think it was the 2000, not the '99. I thought it was good; apple and then peach-like flavors and not too oaky. I thought it compared favorably to some of the unoaked Australian chards,which I prefer. Even though the same grape is used, I suppose those are really different products than the Californians. I am not aware of the various publications' reviews.

I am not aware of Hartford's reputation for quality and consistency.

[This message has been edited by randery (edited 06-24-2003).]

[stevebody]

Hartford's '99 Stone Cote Vineyard Sonoma County Chard is excellent stuff, very reminiscent of the Sonoma-Cutrer "Les Perierres" (sp) at a far lower $$. It's got wonderful mineral sweetness, whiteflower shadings, fig, honeydew melon, honeysuckle, yelllow apple, Bosc pear, and JUDICIOUS USE OF OAK!!! NOT vanilla creme soda.

In general, especially in the Zins, Hartford is a whale of a winery. Their '00 and '01 Russian River Valley and Dina's Vineyard Zins are among the most satisfying and complex Zins I've tasted in the past five years, and both are fairly reasonable.