Patricia Schnitzer

9.0

March 17, 2021. Spontaneous tasting w/ C — South African reds, Bordeaux blends. Whoa! This full bodied powerhouse is 57% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% pinotage. Aromas of Cocoa, coffee, deep black fruit. Lots of old leather, cocoa on the palate. Unfiltered w/ lots of sediment, so not a good coravin candidate. Double decanted, then purchased the last 5 bottles available on Vivino. 15% alcohol so go slow. — 3 years ago

Magdalena Gjefle

9.0

2017 vintage - Nice, slightly oaky Chardonnay. Lemon peel, nice acidity, yellow plum. — 4 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Finally a night or weekend we weren’t working on our rental, rushing to get some Christmas shopping done or getting ready to entertain holiday guests. It’s a night for us to chill out. That’s a good thing. It is also our final night to enjoy all our Christmas candlelights before we pack up tomorrow. 😔

We didn’t even enjoy any of one our very favorite N/V Rosé Champagnes over the holidays.

Tastes really good tonight. Showing shades of carbonated Dreamsicle or Creamsicle. However, you remember them growing up. Rich, ripe, candied & lean; black cherries, strawberries, cherries and summertime leaner watermelon. Baguette, grey volcanics, sea spray and finely powdered, razor sharp chalkiness with candied, pink rose pedals. Perfect, crisp, lively acidity and long, rich, well polished & balanced finish with persistence.

Hope you all have had a great start to 2020! — 4 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

A blend of 60% Cab Sauv, 20% Shiraz, 5% Merlot, 5% Cab Franc, 5% Malbec & 5% Petit Verdot. Aromas of rich berry fruits and sweet floral scents. On the palate blackberry and cherry flavors with oak, cacao and pepper spice. Fine tannins, savory, good balance, lingering ending with fruit and spice notes. — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.4

Celebrating Bastille Day with the spring dinner of the Confrerie St Etienne of Alsace association. Wonderful menu and perfectly paired wines.

Wow. Leave it to the dessert wine to run away with Wine of the Night! Honeyed cashews, honeyed stone fruits, guava, pineapple, caramel and honeycomb. Like a lighter version of Dolce. Insanely good! On the hunt for some of this. Thought of you @Greg Ballington since it’s a South African wine! — 6 years ago

with Dan and Weston

Agnieszka Łukaszczyk-Jużyk

9.0

Oak and smooth. Nice! — 7 years ago

Al Shikoh

9.0

Fully opaque violet in the glass. Blackberry jam, cocoa, vanilla, and hints of tobacco leaf on the nose. Full bodied with very dense, concentrated black fruit on the palate rounded out by sweet tannins, medium + acidity, and good length. Crafted by winemaker Charles Hendricks from 100% Cabernet from Lewelling Ranch in St. Helena at the base of Spring Mountain aged 24 months in French oak. 14.4% alcohol. $85. — 7 years ago

with Kelly

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Pale lemon color with stone and citrus fruits, clean with notes of spice. On the palate flavors of peach, pear and citrus lime flavors, lively acidity and light oak. The medium finish is creamy with a nutty character. good mouthfeel ending with mineral tang. — 3 years ago

Scott Petrus

8.9

N. Rhône in style which was a pleasant surprise. Stewed meat and tannins balance with mouth cleansing acid. — 4 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

I kid you not, Charles Hendricks is likely the most underrated & under known Winemaker in Napa Valley.

If you have not had his wines, you are missing out on great wines & relative real value for Napa. He makes his own private higher end label-Hendricks, Hope & Grace and midway through the 14 vintage for; James Cole, Regusci & T-Vine.

There are few Winemakers that can make wines that drink well young & some that will age two decades plus stored correctly.

This Santa Lucia Doctor’s Vineyard is really good but, his private label Hendricks Pinot from Santa Lucia is off the charts. His 2008 Hendricks Pinot Noir is the highest rating I have ever given a Ca Pinot Noir, 98.

The 13 Doctor’s Vineyard is better than his 12 & is still a little early right now. It will improve over the next 5 years & hold there a couple of years before its gentle decline.

The nose reveals, ripe, well extracted & slightly baked; blackberries, stewed, deep, dark, black plum, black cherries, black raspberries, baked strawberries, dry pomegranate & cranberries with shades of blueberries. Dark spices, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon & vanilla, touch of savory meats, anise to black licorice, black tea, wet clay, steeped black tea, touch of herbs dominated with Rosemary, rich, black, earth, dry stones, dry crushed rocks, fresh tobacco, leather notes, volcanic minerals, limestone with bright, fresh & withering florals that are; dark, red, purple, blue mixed in violets and lavender.

The body is full, rich, lush and gorgeous. The structure, tension, length and balance are just hitting their good phase. It is simply a beautiful & complex Pinot Noir. Nicely extracted & slightly baked; blackberries, stewed, deep, dark, black plum, black cherries, black raspberries, baked strawberries, dry pomegranate & cranberries with more blueberries than the nose. Dark spices that bring palate heat, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick & vanilla, touch of savory meats, peppery notes, anise to black licorice, black tea, wet clay, steeped black tea, touch of herbs dominated with Rosemary, rich, black, earth, dry stones, dry crushed rocks, fresh tobacco, leather notes, volcanic minerals, limestone with bright, fresh & withering florals that are; dark, red, purple, blue mixed in violets and lavender. The acidity is very good & excellent at containing the slightly higher ABV. The long, complex finish is, well balanced fruit & earth, polished and will persist until dawn.

Photos of; Their Doctor’s Vineyard, one of my favorite paintings that used to hang behind the bar in their tasting room & now hangs in Charles’ house (it reminds me of a Jackson Pollock), Winemaker-Charles Hendricks and the front of their tasting room in downtown Yountville.
— 4 years ago

Adam Knoerzer

9.0

You guys, the 2017 is bonkers good. Joyously bright acid that slices through full flavors of tart, underripe pineapple, apple, and melon all kissed by a whisper of oak. Talk about over-delivering for the price. — 6 years ago

"Odedi"

8.9

Dark Inky in color with a short reddish rim.

Fruity nose with black currants, blackberries, ripe figs, wood, spices, licorice, chocolates, mocha, caramel, light vanilla, tobacco, light alcohol and peppercorn.

Full bodied and smooth with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry and fruity on the palate with blackberries, plums, cherries, currants, oak, vanilla, licorice, spices, chocolates, coke, coffee and peppercorn.

Long finish with very soft tannins and tangy cranberries.

This California Red Blend is always enjoyable. Well balanced and enjoyable by itself or with food. Still showing nice acidity and complexity.

It's a non vintage, but I held it for a couple of years so it must be 4 or 5 years old by now.

Good right out of the bottle and better as it opens up.

14.5% alcohol by volume.



$17. — 6 years ago

Andrew Townley

9.2

Quite a surprise for Woolworths clearance. Didn't know it before, but a very nice Bordeaux style blend. Wish I'd bought the rest of what they had! Not my favorite of the ZA ones, but very, very good and worth a try. — 7 years ago

Turd Ferguson

9.0

Half bottle. 2010 cooler year. Lacks the harmony, complexity, and blockbuster potential of the 2012 but still very good. — 7 years ago

S.S. Mandani

8.9

Poker night with the guys. It’s not quite the same as the real thing, but it’s the best we got right now.

The musk of soil. A sort of fresh sea vitality.

Nice medium body, fresh carbonation. Complex notes of lemon rind, grapefruit, mint, and guava. I can’t decide if the rice vinegar kick at the end is good or eh. — 4 years ago

Owen Sparrow

9.0

Fresh, fruity and still rather young with good body and high alcohol, with little loss of purplish edge yet. Could last another 5+ years, with the supportive soft tannin and acidity underpinning the forward fruit. — 4 years ago

Meg Herring

9.0

I love good South African Chenin with a touch of oak. Emphasis on good. — 5 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

We had this with Oxtail dinner at Rattray’s in Mala Mala last night.

Not my usual detailed notes. This is ripe & lush like the Nederburg but with more complexity.

The palate showed ripe and slightly candied fruits of; dark currants, blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries and a hint of blue fruits. Nice softly layered baking spices, dark chocolate, mocha, rich, dark soils, some dry top, well done granitic minerals and fresh red and dark florals. The acidity round & beautiful. The finish, ripe, lush, well balanced & polished. Good QPR here.

Photos of, today’s Mala Mala sunrise, baby calf elephant along with the nearly 40 in the herd and a total of over 100 Elephants seen today, playful male dominance of the Giraffe’s intertwining and smacking necks/mid section and the grand prize, male spotted Leopard. An amazing finish to our last day. — 5 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

I generally like South African Syrah as I do this one but it could have come from anywhere in the west. Soft and smooth with M intensity. This description generally applies to most airline wines which tend to be chosen to be easy to like, not to offend and tend to be middle of the road. For the amount that the charge for Business Class Airfares it is not good enough to be serving wines which cost sometimes as little as $25 as Qantas does. They should all be in the $80 to $100 range. An exception tends to be Champagne - the Drappier Rose on Qatar was very good. — 6 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

On the nose, ripe, ruby, fruits of; mulberry, blackberries, black raspberries, black plum, plum, black cherries, blueberries & creamy raspberries. Vanilla, hints of sweet tarriness, black licorice, whiff of spice, soft understated limestone minerals & crushed rock powder, fruity black tea, hint of fresh herbaceousness, rich, black turned earth, fresh dark floral bouquet and fields of lavender & violets.

The body is rich, ripe & full. The tannins are a little sticky but well softened, round and a touch chewy. The structure, tension, length, balance, tension and balance are very close to perfect and harmonious. Fruits are; mulberry, huckleberry, blackberries, black raspberries, black plum, plum, black cherries & creamy raspberries. Vanilla, hints of sweet tarriness, black licorice, whiff of spice, soft understated limestone minerals & crushed rock powder, fruity black tea, hint of fresh herbaceousness, rich, black turned earth, fresh dark floral bouquet and fields of lavender & violets. The acidity is round and rains like a waterfall perfectly over the palate. The very long, ruby, rich, well balance lasts minutes and is absolutely heavenly. Gorgeous, elegant, stunning wine.

Photos of; the vertical tasting we attended of all Hendricks Cabernets; 04, 05, 09 & 12 at the time w/ one of our favorite paintings in the background, Charles Hendricks working in the cellar, very old rootstock from the Stag’s Leap Vineyard where the fruit to make this wine normally comes from and a wide shot of the Stag’s Leap Vineyard.

Producer notes and history...Hendricks Cabernet Sauvignon is consistently sourced from a few of Napa Valley’s finest vineyards. In those near perfect vintages, Charles only makes a small production wine of around 250-300 cases. Charles only produces it when he has exception fruit. He’s made Hendricks Cabernet in; 2004, 2005, 2009, 2012 & 2014. Notice he didn’t make Hendricks Cabernet in a great vintage year like 2013. He wasn’t happy enough with his fruit in 2013 to put his name on it. That says a lot and maybe all you need to know about his standard for quality. I do know what wine his 13 fruit made as I’ve had and it’s an unbelievable wine for far less money.

Charles also makes a fantastic Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands that is really quite amazing. Especially, if you give it 5 or 6 years in bottle. All his wines are sold exclusively through the Hope & Grace tasting room in Yountville as he is also the Hope & Grace Winemaker.

Charles graduated in 1982 from UC Davis in viticulture. He was also able to tailor his own curriculum and was one of the earliest to integrate winemaking and viticulture course work. Having knowledge of both viticulture and enology forms the basis for his well-rounded winemaking.

Over the years Charles has worked in both Napa and Sonoma Counties, gaining hands on experience in all aspects of winemaking. He has a strong reputation for excellence. In his career, he’s been a consulting winemaker for many wineries; Viader, Barnett Vineyards, Paoletti Vineyards, Regusci Winery, James Cole, T-Vine and Tamayo family Vineyard.

I asked Charles, “how does he make wines that are amazingly good in their youth but will age effortlessly for 15-20 years?” His answer was simply this, “its not that hard, you just have to know the perfect time to harvest fruit.” I would agree with that to a degree. But, you also have to know how to gently guide fruit onto it’s path into the barrel and not get in the wine’s way or overwork the process. — 6 years ago