A Great Find! Hendry Wines, Napa

[Jaybert41]

I just wanted to comment on what a great tasting experience I had today at Hendry Ranch Winery in Napa Valley.

I had just tried their 2001 Block 28 Zinfandel for the first time last week, which is what prompted my visit. There wasn’t time enough to go through the entire tour, which I understand is quite unique as I have heard that George Hendry is a bit of a pioneer in terms of gravity flow winery design. When we talked about this briefly he explained that it was his desire to allow for whole berry fermentation that ruled out the common use of pumps which would accommodate whole berries. Besides being gentler on the wine some say, I have never encountered wines with such extensive whole berry fermentation (15% in the Pinot Noir). They also make a big point about separately vinifying their different blocks of different varietals, which was something else that I had little experience in tasting through.

A quick tasting revealed a rock solid portfolio of wines that I cannot believe I had been missing until now:

A ’04 Pinot Gris was pleasant, clean and fresh. I haven’t hade much Pinot Gris in Napa and this one seemed to come in a little bit on the lighter and more delicate side. I found this a great wine for $17 and would be perfect for just sipping on in the summer months.

A side by side comparison of an ’04 Unoaked Chardonnay ($17, Wente Clone) and a ’02 Blocks 19 & 20 Chardonnay ($25, Dijon Clone) was fascinating. I tend to prefer unoaked Chardonnays but ended up picking up some of the Blocks 19 & 20 today which sees about half new French Oak. The unaoked chard highlighted the citrus notes of the grape which was held in place by a solid core of acidity and structure that you don’t often find these days. I really enjoyed this wine, but favored the balance of the Blocks 19 & 20 for its integration of the oak without faulting the body or acidity of the wine. This was one of the few Napa Chardonnays that I have ever purchased.

On to the 2003 Pinot Noir ($30)… This wine was astonishing!!! I couldn’t believe the big, dark, black fruits that this thing was sitting on! It also carried such a fine firm line of toasted oak that made this really interesting for feeling substantial enough to hold up to some pretty robust food. This was unlike any other Napa Valley Pinot Noir in its price range that I have ever tasted. I feel that it took up a great position between the supple, smooth mouth feel of a great pinot without being over done by excessive oak or alcohol. This wine is a ringer for some Russian River pinots, (Williams Selyem) and George Hendry said that he often times has a hard time picking it out of a blind tasting of such. This wine is a real gem and I am a little surprised that I have seen any notes on this one with all of the attention Pinot is getting lately.

The two Zinfandels: an ’01 Block 7 and ’01 Block 28 (both $28) were delicious. On their own they were equally enjoyable, but side by side a stark contrast could be made. The Block 7 tends to lean more towards the Pinot end of the spectrum in terms of body and mouth feel and the Block 28 takes on more of a Cabernet approach. Without much surprise, George said that by tasting them side by side you can then see just how one over the other could be chosen for different types of food.

He is also one the first people that I have met to use the saignee method of bleeding the tanks prior to fermentation to get rid of some of the sugars that often times are responsible for Zinfandels atrocious alcohol levels. These were Great zinfandels for a non zinfandel lover.

Also tasted was a Hendry Ranch 2002 “Red Wine” ($30), which a new bottling utilizing some of the surplus Meritage grapes. This one was particularly heavy on the Malbec, which I enjoyed for its blueberry scent and marked acidity.

And lastly was the Block 8 Cabernet. This wine was rather closed and lean, but did put off a nice fine scent that I associate with cooler growing conditions that I tend to enjoy. By this point in the tasting, I was pretty shot, but grabbed a few of these bottles for good measure and can report back sometime later. I will try to get back over there in a couple of weeks when they start to offer the 2001.

In all, I am thoroughly delighted to have a found a new producer for a consistently delicious portfolio of reasonably priced wines. As a comparison, these Hendry wines will be taking over the roll in my cellar previously held by Robert Sinsky. Nothing against Sinsky, but these wines Hendry wines were humming!

I would love to hear anybody else’s opinions or experiences.

(crossposted to Squires Wine Talk BB)

Edited August 5, 2005 by Jaybert41 (log)

[JohnL]

Thanks for the info!

I have seen Hendry wines on some shelves here in the NYC area the past few years or so. I can't say I recall reading about them either.

For some reason (so many wines so little time!)-- I hadn't tried one.

I think I will pick one (or two) up and try em!