2012 Hartford Family Wines Hartford Court Sevens Bench Vineyard Pinot Noir

Hartford Family Winery is in the Russian River region of Sonoma County. It was founded in 1993 by Don and Jennifer Hartford. Don is a lawyer and Jennifer is the daughter of Jess Jackson of Kendall-Jackson winery. Jeff Stewart is winemaker. Stewart worked for numerous California producers, including La Crema and Buena Vista Carneros, before joining Hartford. The estate focuses on single vineyard and limited bottlings of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and old vine Zinfandel. Robert M. Parker Jr. writes that Hartford wines “are thrilling, single-vineyard efforts that possess extraordinary character, personality, and pleasure-giving characteristics.”

Carneros AVA, also known as Los Carneros, is at the southern end of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys at the top of the San Francisco Bay. The 8,000 vineyard acres are mostly planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, both of which thrive in the district’s cool, marine climate. Carneros became an AVA in 1983 and it has attracted foreign wine companies along with local producers. It has been especially appealing to European producers of sparkling wines including the giant Spanish cava producers Codorniu and Frexinet, and the French Champagne house Taittinger. Codorniu in Carneros is called Artesa, and Frexinet’s Carneros brand is Gloria Ferrer. Taittinger calls its Carneros winery Domaine Carneros. The European producers also make still wines in Carneros.

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.