Steve Anderson

9.4

T.A. Returns to S.D. 7/7/2018: perfect warm weather red and really showing well right now. @romo wine — 8 years ago

Jamie Franklin

9.0

Deep garnet faintly translucent color and full bodied. Lots of dark bramble fruit followed by a touch of oak leading to a short, but smooth and lightly tannic finish. Good value and paired well the BBQ ribs. — 9 years ago

Marty McNees

9.1

Drinking pretty well. Impressive, considering the poor vintage. — 9 years ago

Jennifer Whitney

9.3

Well-balanced. Drink again. — 9 years ago

Kirk F

9.1

Wine of the night, 2016 Fall Wine Tasting. Well, it tied for first and ties go to the Guest! Agree with other raters on this one. Don't let the label fool u, this is a serious wine. Not Kosta serious but damn good. — 10 years ago

with Avery, Kelly and 4 others

Lauren Marino

9.1

Fruit forward well structured Pinot noir from small Russian River producer. Delicious. — 10 years ago

with Chris

Michael Walker

9.8

Super tasty. Perfectly balanced. Needs about 30 mins to open up. Goes well with grass fed chianti-soaked short ribs with Parmesan polenta. — 10 years ago

Robert McCall

8.9

Funky at first but blows off to reveal a classicly balanced Ridge zin dominant blend.. This one has held up well. Love Ridge and consistent as always. — 11 years ago

Matt Young

9.2

Great wine, paired really well with the pork stir fry we had. Definitely better RIGHT after opening. As it sat it lost some of its complexity — 11 years ago

Mintu Turakhia

9.0

This was kept for way too long but drank suprisingly well for a Kistler. — 12 years ago

Mark Heal

9.8

Turley Zin, 2000. Best Zin I've had, aged well. — 12 years ago

Charlie Tapp

9.2

Black fruit, roasted strawberries, underbrush and oak. Well balanced. — 8 years ago

Rob Mayes

8.9

Taking on chocolate notes that weren't there a couple years ago. More mushroom on the nose as well that wasn't there before. More dark cherry than I've ever picked up before. Minimal tannin at this point. Not loving the finish. This is past it's prime. — 9 years ago

Kapyrick Wine

9.2

V13. Well balanced. Soft floral and tobacco nose melds with rich blackberry fruit and a thick , dry peppery finish. Would work with grilled meats and spicy condiments — 9 years ago

Brandon T

9.2

Solid Pinot, definitely on the lighter side. Paired well with yellowfin tuna. First experience here but will try again. — 9 years ago

with Sam

Erin O'Hagan

9.5

Per recommendations from shipment - to be drank from 2017 onward. I was curious though. Decanted for many many hours. By 6 hours in - it was fantastic. Well worth the wait. Dark berries, chocolate and a tobacco almost earthy finish. Will be incredible in years to come. — 10 years ago

Chris B

8.9

2013 Napa Valley Cab with nice oaky raspberry with a hint of chocolate. Good body and smooth tannins. Well rounded finish. Drinkable now but should improve with age. — 10 years ago

Michael Leeper

9.0

A bit young but went well with the Pork tenderloin. — 10 years ago

.

9.0

More prominent spice than other vintages I've had, as well as some alcoholic warmth. Strikes me as a winter cab. ;) — 11 years ago

Lee Jackson

9.6

Elyse is an amazing wine. The Zin is smooth and pairs well with a good steak. — 11 years ago

Ryan Lopez

9.2

Beautiful! Dark fruit, well balanced! Another Pax Mahle success! — 11 years ago

Conrad Cyriax

9.3

Well balanced - strong finish — 12 years ago

Somm 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. — 8 years ago

Geoff Troup

Sales Eder Brothers, Cellar Fine Wines

9.1

Perfect marriage of fruit and tannin. Elegant and very well made, if a bit too classical to be truly enthusiastic about. — 10 years ago

Alex Kegelmeyer

9.0

Citrusy with a strong aroma of orange zest, fresh coriander and sal del mar, finishing smoothly with a palate cleansing clean high acid taste. Pairs well with salmon, sautéed mushrooms, summer evenings. — 10 years ago

Sean Genn

9.4

Great mouthfeel and structure. This will age well. — 10 years ago

Jonathan Wall

9.0

Brooding. Went well with the more serious aspects of Thanksgiving... Like yams. Less fruit than other Martinelli's I've had, but great depth... Almost seemed a bit closed for a 2009, so may have years to go. — 10 years ago

David L

9.5

14' This is an extraordinarily well made chard. It would be a shame, if you drink this on its own.FOOD!(I know what you're thinking… California Chard)Very light golden in color/almost see-through. The nose is slate & honeydew. The glass is filled with peach, banana peel, bedrock. The acidity washes everything clean form your palate.The balance between fruit, acidity & oak is close to perfect. Very much old world. Gargiulo has nothing about whites on the website??#Gargiulo Whites...get some! — 11 years ago

Paul Riccomini

8.9

Should pair well with duck. — 12 years ago

John Kemper

10

The '09 Carlisle Zinfandel 'Montafi Ranch' is a black-purple glass-staining monster of a wine. Nothing is subtle about this black raspberry jam and licorice infused blockbuster. It is more balanced and finely etched than most high alcohol RRV Zins. Well-integrated tannins brace the tongue while leading to a lengthy and satisfying finish. As good as it gets! — 13 years ago