Wine Last Sold on: February 16, 2013
Hendry Ranch Wines
Featured Wine:
2006 Napa Valley Red Wine
| Varietal: | Red Blend |
| Vineyard: | Hendry Vineyard |
| Region: | California: Napa Valley |
| Avg. Price: | $38.00 |
| Wine Spies: | [REDACTED] |
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EXFILTRATION ALERT:
We uncovered a handful of cases of this special wine - and we thought that we’d make them available to you at a very special price. Be warned, though, there are very few remaining. When this wine sells out, a new wine will go up for sale.
SUPERIOR WINE ALERT:
We only showcase wines that we love. While our emphasis is on quality first, every now and again we come across a real standout wine that rises above. When we do, we issue alerts like this one.
Mission Codename: Pretty in Purple
- Operative
- Agent Red
- Objective
- Infiltrate Hendry Ranch, and procure their vaunted 2006 Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend. Before the winery sells out, procure an exclusive allotment for our Operatives.
- Mission Status
- Accomplished!
- Winemaker
- George Hendry
Final Assessment
The 2006 Napa Valley Red Wine, from our great friends at Hendry, is a big, bold, delicious, flavor-packed Bordeaux Blend. Sourced from the winery’s own lovingly tended estate vineyards, this wine really impressed our tasting panel.
Give the wine time to breath, after opening, and you’ll have a softer and more elegant experience with the wine. On opening, edges are a bit hard, but the wine really opens up and softens as it breaths. We had fun, spinning the wine in our glasses, and sipping every few minutes. The more we spun, the more we loved this wine. Pair with bolder dishes. Drink now, or cellar for up to ten more years!
Tasting Profile
Darkest Bordeaux purple, when viewed side on. The wine is inky and darker, at its core, and it lightens to garnet at the edge. Spin the wine and take note of how it stains the glass before it coalesces into tight clusters of skinny tears.
Dark and spiced, with generous blackberry, burnt raisin and dark oak. As the wine airs out, black cherry, leather, dried violets and subtle pencil shavings.
Clean and light on entry. Then, immediately grippy and weighty as the wine settles onto the mid palate. A mineral-driven dryness spreads from the center of the palate, outward, drying the lips. Plush tannins give the wine a chewy feel.
Darkest cherry, overripe blackberry, grilled mission fig, dark plum, spice, oak and black licorice all work in equal proportion, driving big flavor from beginning to end.
Very long and flavor-filled, with black fruit and oak sustaining beyond the spice and licorice components. As the wine dries the palate, and the wine takes on a chewy feel, flavors tail off slowly, leaving behind oak and flinty minerals.
What the Winery Says
About This Wine:
The Hendry Vineyard is located on bench lands west of the town of Napa. The vines grow on thin, stony clay soil between 200 and 300 feet above sea level. Morning fog and strong afternoon breezes from San Pablo Bay moderate the climate.
This wine is a blend of, 42% Malbec (Block 14), 26% Petit Verdot (Block 15) 21% Cabernet Sauvignon (Block 8), 7% Merlot (Block 13) and 4% Cabernet Franc (Block 26). The wine was aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, approximately 56% of which were new.
Like its predecessors, the 2006 Hendry Red initially reveals attractive, spicy oak and just a whiff of low-toned purple fruit. The wine is strikingly dense and purple, coating the surface of the glass, due to high percentages of Malbec and Petit Verdot. Silky and full on the entry. The dense palate weight is detectable, even when first opened. With air, the mid-palate continues to expand, to include powdered cocoa and deep berry, accented with pleasant baking spices. Aromatically elusive and complex. A full mid-palate and gradual transition to a fine-grained tannin structure, make this a wine that happily pairs with moderately rich dishes, yet is soft enough to enjoy on its own.
Technical Analysis:
Alcohol: 14.4%
About the Winery
Hendry is a small estate winery located in the south-western Napa valley. Our 117 acres of vineyard tic on gently sloping terrain between 160 and 2% feet in elevation. Thin stony soils and a moderate climate allow the production of a wide range of varietals. Most of this property has belonged to the Hendry family since 1939.
At Hendry, we stress the importance of the vineyard, and we devote much of our time to understanding its variation on small scales. Combinations of soil, climate, varietal and clone are critical, and for this reason, we have divided our vineyard into 50 different blocks, each managed separately. To us, every block is a learning experience that teaches us about interactions among these variables, and how they influence fruit composition and wine quality. Small changes in any of them can have dramatic effects on the wine.
There has been vineyard on this property for more than 140 years, and we have been farming here for nearly half that time. As our knowledge grows, our vineyard blocks evolve, and we get closer to understanding the full potential of our vineyard.
