2017 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard

Coming from an incredibly cold site in the Russian River Valley that was planted in 1975 to the heritage Martini clone, the 2017 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard was completely destemmed and spent 16 months in 44% new French oak, which is on the higher end for this estate. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, it offers a more fresh, focused, backward style to go with classy Bing cherry and raspberry fruits as well as notes of spice, sappy herbs, and spring flowers, It has a kiss of background oak (which will integrated with 1-2 years of bottle age), good acidity, and ripe tannins, yet unquestionably needs 2-3 years of bottle age to show its full potential. This beautiful, potential-packed beauty that will be one of the longer-lived releases here.

Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2017 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard does pirouettes out of the glass with a pretty perfume of red roses, fragrant soil, lavender and kirsch over a core of warm cranberries, mulberries and tilled soil plus a waft of truffles. Medium-bodied, the palate is so delicately played with surprising vibrancy and persistence among the fine-grained tannins and understated nuances. Just beautiful. 217 cases were made.

A rich, unctuous wine, the 2017 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard is going to need a few years to shed some baby fat. Exotic floral, spice and citrus aromatics meld into a core of plush fruit in a deep, textured Pinot that will have so much to offer one it comes together a bit more fully in bottle. The 2017 has the density and richness to develop beautifully in bottle for many years to come. (AG)