Hartford Family Winery

Hartford Family Winery is a wine producer located in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. The estate was established in 1994 by Jenny and Don Hartford and has gained a reputation as one of Sonoma's premier producers for top quality Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Zinfandel.

The wines come from around the region, from vineyards in the Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Green Valley, Carneros, Anderson Valley, and Marin County, as well as in Oregon appellations. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are planted at specific cool-climate sites and make up the bulk of the estate's wine portfolio. The vineyards are chosen for their low yields, and a limited amount of wine is made. Hartford's Zinfandel comes from old vines in Russian River that are as much as 100 years old.

Hartford Family Winery employs traditional winemaking techniques. The grapes are handpicked and sorted before a five-day cold soak to extract additional flavors and tannins. The red varieties are partially de-stemmed but not crushed, and punched down in open top fermenters to extract color and flavor. After vinification, the wines are aged in French oak for up to 15 months, with the proportion of new oak dependent on the wine. Racking is usually only done once before the wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.