Winemaker Notes
Ruby color. Initial aromas include deep berry fruit, spice, floral notes and tea. Berry and ripe cherry fruit on the palate, with bittersweet cocoa on the finish. Moderate levels of fine-grained tannin round out the balanced palate.
Pair with seasoned lamb chops on the grill, beef carpaccio, seared lean steaks, eggplant Parmesan, pasta with a braised meat ragu. As always, balanced and versatile, with just enough pleasant structure to extend its pairing possibilities.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
George Hendry planted Block 7 in 1975. At the time, he was selling grapes from his family’s ranch at the base of Mt. Veeder, just west of the city of Napa. He planted Block 22 in 1995, a few years after he began to make his own wine. His nephew Mike manages the vines today, blending Blocks 7 & 22, both clone 2 zinfandel, and aging it in French oak barrels (one third of them new). If you love Napa Valley zinfandel as I do, you owe it to yourself to get this wine if just for the smell alone. It starts with tight floral clarity, then expands toward zinfandel’s classic generosity, touching every sense receptor with its purity of fruit. Immediately fresh and refreshing, this begins to sit in its oak as it develops over several days, suggesting that you drink it either now or in ten years when it will have completely digested that oak and show the vineyard through a mature lens.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Zinfandel Hendry Blocks 7 & 22 is slightly less aromatic, but it offers richer notes of red and black currants, plums, cedar wood, and spice. Medium to full-bodied, it has a rounded, supple, elegant texture, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It will drink well for 5-7 years.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.