Holy sh*t! I was initially planning on posting under the ‘what are you drinking’ thread…but this clearly deserves it’s own topic.
So I drink quite a bit of zin…and I’m WILDLY impressed by this wine. The nose is solid/standard and full of everything you’d expect from a strong producer and old vines (red fruits, spice, etc)…but the palate. Oh man, on the palate is where this wine really shines. It’s like being a kid again and running through a hypothetical field full of blueberries, rasberries, and violets on a beautiful summer day with your mouth wide open so that all the flavors and aromas meld together in a perfect Harmony of happiness. Seriosuly just waves and waves of pure blue fruits and florals here. absolutely delicious, and one hell of a QPR.
Is it just me…or has anyone else been completely blown away by this wine??
Believe it or not, it was from the local ‘super frys’ grocery store in Scottsdale. It’s more like a huge boutique grocer (think whole foods), but with a seriously strong wine offering, and a temp-controlled Cellar with tons of high-end stuff.
Think I paid slightly under $30 for this…which for me, was well worth it.
Purple in color. 15.7% ABV. Gorgeous nose of black and blue fruits, peach and a touch of vanilla. Full bodied with medium acidity. Jammy and bursting with fruit. Exceptional balance. Blackberry, blueberry, salmonberry and pepper on the palate. The finish is long and seamless. Delicious Zinfandel. Drink over the next 4-6 years. 93 points.
Boom! You nailed it as always Tom and your note is much more eloquent than mine would ever be…but I’m happy to see were both on the same page here. This is an awesome wine!
I’ve always been impressed with Hartford Zins but they are not that common at retail around here even though as the crow flies the winery is a mile or so away from me.
Hartford has always been a strong RRV Zinfandel producer, in my experience.
I think the single-vineyard designates are great, but I am more than happy to just drink the standard appellation bottling. Year in and out, a great example of a balanced Zinfandel!
BTW, you can sometimes find the RRV Zin for ~$25 online (prior to the '14 placing on the WAS “Top 100”).
Same ABV as the '14 I posted a note on above. I thought the '14 was well balanced but as we know past performance is not always an indicator of future performance.
I’d definitely agree that it was balanced…but a quick disclaimer Robert. There was definitely a little bit of oak/vanilla on the finish. It wasn’t distracting to me as the purity of the fruit and floral notes mixed well with the little bit of oak that was there, and I’d guess that integrates even more with a little more time sideways.
But knowing that you’re maybe ‘a little oak-adverse’ (is there a prize for understatement of the year??)…I would be remiss not to mention it
Little more context for ya. I used my Coravin on the 1st half of the bottle (as I’ve said…best short term preservation option out there), and drank the rest of it tonight. It absolutely crushed the 13 Bedrock OVZ I drank with it…which is a STRONG compliment to the Hartford.
*slight disclaimer. This was not even close to the best 13 Bedrock OVZ I’ve had (not fully flawed, but maybe slight heat damage?? Snagged at a random local shop yesterday…because it’s such a huge pain in the ass to pull bottles from the multiple lockers at my off-site and I wanted to check in on this one…but I digress).
