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

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

Agnieszka Łukaszczyk-Jużyk

9.0

Oak and smooth. Nice! — 7 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

Jonathan Wall

9.2

Don't forget about Pinotage. A good way to mix up the repertoire. Dark charred blue berries and that distinctive dried banana in a red wine actually does exist. Who knew. The no brainier graphic on the back of the bottle notes this is way too young calling it "bottle shock" time ( why release it so young then?). But I found this interesting over three nights, most put together the 3rd... I was shaking the last drop out. Way to go South Africa. — 8 years ago

Evan Keaschuk

9.6

The best South African white I've ever had. Loads of complexity, density, ripe fruit, honey, and such crazy length. South Africa is looking good with wines like this — 8 years ago

with Jenna

Per-åke Lindell

9.0

Floral in nose with a hint of waxiness, Medium body with acidness and good medium lenght in taste with a slight bitterness in the end.
— 9 years ago

Charlie Frago

9.0

Nice. Good example of cab blend — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.1

From a warmer vyd than the Z, 55CS is the core of the Bordeaux blend, meaty, pepper & graphite, red and black fruits, solid tannic structure good length and lots of complexity — 10 years ago

Özdemir Alşan

9.0

wonderfully balanced wine from Stellenbosch, South Africa. Very generous in aroma of sweet spices and rounded taste of berries on palate...absolutely good value for money in comparison with Turkish wine prices-quality; bought it from Istanbul duty free for 16 euros (i guess this should be around 10 euros in SA) — 10 years ago

with David, Ozgur and 1 other

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

Jeffery Heavner

8.9

Good tannin structure and fruit . It's a lot of viridals in one wine but Is balanced ok. — 8 years ago

Vino Kaela

8.9

Good example of Grenache from #wosa nice red fruits of strawberry and raspberry with layers of savory herbs and spice. Palate is balanced with an acceptable finish. #capesomm — 8 years ago

Neal Bost

10

My go-to, cheap-but-not-too-cheap Cab. Therefore one of my favorites! Just enough body, just the right spice – I doubt anyone would dislike it so long as they like a full-bodied red wine and are a good person. — 8 years ago

Tom Riley

9.1

Four adults on a good bottle is a painful thing. Just too damn fast. Not a cool climate wine by any stretch but not a jammy mess either. Well made with layers of great smoky meaty flavors and a lush finish. The 15.5 abv is frighteningly well integrated. Delicious. And empty. — 9 years ago

Lonnie Williams

9.0

Very good wine. Nice earthy taste w hints of cigar. Light on the first swallow and bold on the finish. Nice blend as the cab dominates. — 9 years ago

with Jeannette

Kevin Yen

9.5

2013/7@Shanghai ASC — 10 years ago

Patrick Dolan

9.7

Aroma of rich berries. Smooth and slightly sweet with a sour note. Very good. — 11 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

"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

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

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.0

Garnet red with some bricking around the edges. Some dirty notes of the nose with a little greenery and soft dark berries in the finish. Moderate tannins (7/10) with good acidity, a little higher than expected. Mainly red berries on the palate with some savory herbs in the finish. Medium plus bodied and medium plus finish. Tastes a little older than an 09. Drink till 2018. — 7 years ago

with Sean and India

Brian Filip

9.0

Well balanced, aromatic, easy drinking pinotage. A deep inky purple color. Wonderful nose with the initial pour... cured meats, bready yeast, and dark berries. I've seen many others noting banana and cinnamon scents with this wine, but I didn't pick up any of that. Maybe vintage variation? Tannins and acidity were present, but not strong. Med-Full body. All-in-all, a very good pinotage worth trying. — 8 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.0

Game day wine and Thai food with India. I do not know much about Neethingshof Estate but love South African wine and was willing to try this out to see if it has a good QPR. The color is dark ruby red. The nose of this is very intriguing. Within the nose there is smoke, dry grass, bell peppers, plum and peppercorn. The palate is very savory, I really enjoy that in a wine, and is very smooth and rolls down your tongue. There are moderate round tannins with a moderate body, and lingers for a few seconds for a moderate finish. Overall a great wine that I am surprised with the quality at the price point $19.99. This wine can age nicely over the next few years. One of my favorite QPRs to date. — 9 years ago

with India

Kiki Herrero

9.0

On the bolder note. Good for dinner. — 9 years ago

Jay Svoboda

9.1

I love South Africa. In my opinion this one of the most underrated growing regions in the world (which is probably good news for SA lovers such as myself). As for this particular wine, dark, dusky fruit on top with bright red fruit underneath. Also a hint of mint and tar on the nose. Velvety smooth tannins - surprising for such a young vintage - paired nicely with a chicken lasagna. — 10 years ago

Kelly Frake

10

Good wine and whales. 2 of my favs! And part of the proceeds go to the southern right whale sanctuary. <3 — 10 years ago

Alec Hoffman

9.0

This is good. Sophisticated and vibrant but not over the top like so many new world sav blancs. — 11 years ago