A Screen Porch Wine

Two weeks ago I attended another winemaker tasting a Bon Vivant in Smithfield, VA with guest speaker, Susan Ridley of Hendry Wines.  Sue joined Hendry as a partner in 1995, and currently has the responsibility of developing Hendry’s brand and managing sales and marketing.  Sue provided our group a lot of historical information on the early years of the Hendry family and their vineyards. 

Hendry is a small estate winery located in Napa Valley, between the Carneros and Mt. Veeder viticultural districts.  Their 117 acres currently under vine is divided up in to 50 different vineyard blocks (yep, that’s five zero, fifty), and each of the 50 different vineyard blocks is managed separately.  Now I’m not a farmer, winemaker or viticulturalist, but I can imagine the work that goes in to managing 50 separate vineyards blocks is just a bit demanding.

The land that the Hendry Ranch sits on was purchased by George Whiting Hendry in 1939, and is managed today by his son, George Ott Hendry, who has lived on the property and tended the vines his entire life.   Although I have not yet met George, he appears to be quite an interesting dude.  He received his undergrad and graduate degrees from UC Berkely and divides his time between growing grapes and designing and manufacturing particle accelerators. 

 I find these second and third generation family wineries often provide the most sincere wines, and Hendry is certainly part of that group. 

Hendry Ranch 2008 Rose Wine ($16):    Hendry produced 650 cases of this wine.  This is a busy Rose – a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot, Malbec and just a tad of Primitivo (the Hendry Primitivo is supa dupa!).  13.5% alcohol.  Bright pink in color, leaning towards salmon.  Strawberry Jolly Rancher jumped out at me on the nose accompanied by a watermelon and slight citrus aroma.  The strawberry Jolly Rancher continued in the mouth and was balanced with a crisp acidity along with flavors of pink grapefruit and apricot.  Near the end of the bottle, I picked up an unusual alcohol taste that lingered on the finish.

I’m looking forward to visiting Hendry for a tour and tasting during my trip to Napa in July to attend the Wine Bloggers Conference.

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Indie Wine of the Week: Clif Bar The Climber White

Spring has returned, at least temporarily, to Southern Virginia brining perfect 70 degree sunny weather.  Warm weather calls for crisp whites… and one of the wines I’ve wanted to try for a while is the The Climber White Wine made by Clif Family Winery and Farm, makers of CLIF Bar and LUNA Bar.  I’ve noticed this particular wine reviewed by several of my fellow bloggers (good grief, did I miss the sample delivery?), so I added this one to my wine watch list late last year and picked up a bottle recently at Bon Vivant during a tasting.

Clif Bar Family Winery – 2006 The Climber White Wine

The 2006 White marked the company’s transition to organic sourcing –  A  blend of 80% organic Sauvignon Blanc, 12% Semillon, 6% Viognier and 2% Chenin Blanc.  ~ $14/bottle.  14.2% alcohol.  Only 1,250 cases of the 2006 produced.  Pale yellow gold color with notes of peach, apricot and melon along with tastes of sweet apricot (almost too sweet) and a nice crispness. 

I would rate this ‘ok’ in my book – I didn’t finish it wishing I had another bottle.  This is an ok, very reasonably priced white that makes a great sipper.

 

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Open That Bottle Night and Patricia Green

Tonight marks the 10^th anniversary of ‘Open That Bottle Night‘ started in 2000 by Wall Street Journal wine writers, Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher.  Open That Bottle Night is intended serve as a reason to open that bottle of wine that’s been stashed away.

Last year my awesome wife gave me a bottle of Patricia Green’s 2005 Anniversary Pinot Noir and I’ve been looking for nearly any excuse to open the bottle… so Open That Bottle Night seemed like a great occasion. 

Patricia Green Cellars is located in Ribbon Ridge, an AVA in Yamhill County.  Patty Green started her career picking grapes at Hillcrest Vineyard and is now known as one of the top Oregon Pinot producers.  This is Patty Green’s 20^th anniversary special cuvee. 

Patricia Green Cellars 2005 Anniversary Pinot Noir

Patricia Green 2005 Anniversary Pinot Noir

The blend comes from a barrel each of Balcombe Vineyard, Eason Vineyard and Goldschmidt Vineyard (that is one of the reasons there were only 46 cases of Goldschmidt bottled) from the Dundee Hills and a barrel from the Winery Block and the East Etzel Block (the two oldest blocks) from the Estate Vineyard in Ribbon Ridge. The Goldschmidt and Winery Block barrels were new, the Eason and Etzel Block barrels were once used and the Balcombe was a twice filled barrel.

About ~$85 in a retail store.  Real cork closure – 13.5% alcohol.  Light purple in color with a fresh nose of raspberries, plum, ripe cherry.   Silky mouthfeel with spice, plum and slight tastes of lavender complemented by a cranberry finish. Excellent balance.

This was an excellent wine – great fruit and balance, but I may have opened this too early.  I can imagine this would have been even more excellenter (clearly I didn’t pay attention in English, sorry Mrs. Culler).

To pair with the wine for Open That Bottle Night, we had salmon, veggies and cheddar cheese grits.

... paired with Salmon, grilled veggies and cheddar cheese grits.

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Indie Wine of the Week: Ceago Vinegarden Cabernet Sauvignon

Indie Wine of the Week: Ceàgo Vinegarden 2002 Camp Masut Cabernet Sauvignon

For our post Christmas dinner, we opened a bottle of Ceago Vinegarden 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon.  The grapes are from Ceago’s biodynamic Camp Masut vineyard in the Russian River Valley.

Ceàgo Vinegarden 2002 Camp Masut Cabernet Sauvignon

14.0% alcohol.  1,200 cases produced.  $35.95.  On the nose there was initially a vegetal component – bell pepper and slight hints of jalapeno – after an hour decanting I found lots of currant, plum, blackberry and chocolate powder.  Firm tannins with dark plums, blackberries and hints of cinnamon on the finish. 

The word “Ceàgo” is derived from a local Pomo Indian word meaning “Grass Seed Valley”.  Ceàgo Vinegarden is one of the best known biodynamic producers in the US and is owned by Jim Fetzer, formerly of Fetzer Family Vineyards (Fetzer Vineyards was sold to Brown-Forman in 1992).  Ceago, located on the shores of Clear Lake in Lake County, California, currently produces a total of 8,000 cases of biodynamic wines, all from estate grown grapes.  All of Ceago’s vineyards are certified biodynamic by Demeter-USA and the wines are certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers. 

 The Ceago website (www.ceago.com) is a great resource for straight forward information about biodynamic farming and viticulture practices.  A few notable articles featuring Ceago Vinegarden:

• Vineyard & Winery Management
• Food & Wine
• Time Magazine
• Wine Spectator – Green Revolutionaries

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