Winemaker Notes
Hailey's Block Pinot Noir is located within the prestigious Arrendell Vineyard and is named after founders Don & Jenny Hartford's daughter Hailey. The block was planted over 20 years ago to Dijon clones 114 and 777 at a time when Hailey was just six years old. Over time, we have watched both Hailey and her namesake Pinot Noir mature into personalities of great strength, beauty and charm.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Pinot Noir Hailey's Block is thrilling stuff sourced from the Arrendell Vineyard, which is a cool site in the Green Valley portion of the Russian River. Aged 16 months in 34% new French oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered, it has a big bouquet of black raspberries, blood orange, savory spices, and crushed violets. Incredibly complex, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated, with fine tannin, it’s another incredibly satisfying, complete Pinot Noir well worth seeking out. 248 cases.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Hailey's Block has a medium ruby-purple color and features exuberant notes of Black Forest cake, kirsch and wild blueberries with hints of baking spices and dusty soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with juicy red, black and blue fruit layers, framed by plush tannins and finishing on a spicy note.
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.”
Situated on the foggier and colder western edge of the Russian River Valley, almost abutting the Sonoma Coast appellation, Green Valley is one of California’s most reputable Chardonnay and Pinot noir producing regions. It is also a wonderful source of sparkling wines made from these varieties.
Goldridge soils abound throughout the Green Valley appellation. This fine, dark, sandy loam and fractured sandstone is derived from the remains of ancient inland seabeds dating back three to five million years. It is valuable for high quality grape growing because of its excellent drainage and low fertility.