Hartford Court 'Jurassic Vineyard' Old Vine Chenin Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County, California 2023
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Hartford Family Winery was founded in 1994 by Don and Jennifer Hartford in partnership with Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke of Jackson Family Wines. The Hartford Court label — focused on small-lot, single-vineyard bottlings — has built its reputation primarily on Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but the Jurassic Vineyard Chenin Blanc has become one of the winery's most celebrated and consistently scored wines. It represents Hartford Court's most geographically adventurous bottling: a single vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley that the winery has sourced for years, treating it with the same attention to site and growing season that defines their flagship Russian River program.
- WINEMAKER: Jeff Stewart
- FARMING: Own-rooted vines (franc de pied), planted 1982. Unirrigated. Old vines forced to search deep for nutrients and water in fossil-rich soils.
- VARIETY: 100% Chenin Blanc
- TERROIR: The Jurassic Vineyard sits at approximately 1,000 feet elevation in the Santa Ynez Valley. Its name pays tribute to the fossil-rich, sandy limestone soils that define the site — a geological remnant of an ancient seabed. Own-rooted vines planted in 1982 grow in well-drained sandy and limestone-laden soils with constant Pacific breezes cooling the sunny hillside. Low-vigor growing conditions and old vine stress produce highly textural, concentrated fruit with naturally high acidity.
- VINIFICATION: Barrel fermented. Full malolactic fermentation.
- AGING: 10 months in used French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
- TASTING NOTES: Golden Delicious apple, fresh pear, and wet slate on the nose with beeswax and coriander seed. The palate is dry and medium-bodied with satiny texture and racy acidity, finishing with a characteristic lemony mineral lift. Seamless and elegant with quince and lemon pith emerging with time in the glass.
- FOOD PAIRINGS: Grilled fish, roast chicken, aged goat cheese, lobster, pork with fruit.
- SCORES: James Suckling 96 pts (January 2026)
Hartford Court 'Jurassic Vineyard' Old Vine Chenin Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County, California 2023
Hartford Family Winery was founded in 1994 by Don and Jennifer Hartford in partnership with Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke of Jackson Family Wines. The Hartford Court label — focused on small-lot, single-vineyard bottlings — has built its reputation primarily on Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but the Jurassic Vineyard Chenin Blanc has become one of the winery's most celebrated and consistently scored wines. It represents Hartford Court's most geographically adventurous bottling: a single vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley that the winery has sourced for years, treating it with the same attention to site and growing season that defines their flagship Russian River program.
- WINEMAKER: Jeff Stewart
- FARMING: Own-rooted vines (franc de pied), planted 1982. Unirrigated. Old vines forced to search deep for nutrients and water in fossil-rich soils.
- VARIETY: 100% Chenin Blanc
- TERROIR: The Jurassic Vineyard sits at approximately 1,000 feet elevation in the Santa Ynez Valley. Its name pays tribute to the fossil-rich, sandy limestone soils that define the site — a geological remnant of an ancient seabed. Own-rooted vines planted in 1982 grow in well-drained sandy and limestone-laden soils with constant Pacific breezes cooling the sunny hillside. Low-vigor growing conditions and old vine stress produce highly textural, concentrated fruit with naturally high acidity.
- VINIFICATION: Barrel fermented. Full malolactic fermentation.
- AGING: 10 months in used French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
- TASTING NOTES: Golden Delicious apple, fresh pear, and wet slate on the nose with beeswax and coriander seed. The palate is dry and medium-bodied with satiny texture and racy acidity, finishing with a characteristic lemony mineral lift. Seamless and elegant with quince and lemon pith emerging with time in the glass.
- FOOD PAIRINGS: Grilled fish, roast chicken, aged goat cheese, lobster, pork with fruit.
- SCORES: James Suckling 96 pts (January 2026)