Hartford Court Land's Edge Pinot Noir 2012
-
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The only 2012 Pinot Noir I tasted was the outstanding 2012 Pinot Noir Lands Edge Vineyard, a Sonoma Coast site situated only five miles from the Pacific Ocean. Bottled early, this wine, which only spent 10 months in barrel, exhibits lots of black fruits along with hints of forest floor, composty, fresh mushroom-like notes intermixed with spring flowers. This rich, complex Pinot Noir should drink well for 4-5 years.
Range: 90+ Points
Other Vintages
2021-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb
-
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine
Making delicious wines of high personality is directly related to the difficult locations of the Hartford family's vineyard sources, the limited production of their bottlings and the varietals they use. "Character through adversity" is an expression that the Hartford family believes to apply to both people and grapevines, and they feel that surviving adversity builds character, and personality, in both.
The Hartford Family makes wines under two marks, one of which is Hartford Court. Hartford Court bottlings are small lots of high-personality single vineyard Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that express the distinctive qualities inherent in each vineyard's terroir - the interplay of soil, slope, exposure and climate. The fruit is sourced from the Russian River Valley, Green Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.