2019 Hendry Vineyard Malbec

Dense, glass-coating purple color with violet at the rim. Leather, fragrant fruit, tea and spice in the initial aromatic profile. With air, some of the more earthy elements recede, and brown sugar adds a sweet note to the complex mix. Lovely, soft entry, broad and even palate impression, with bittersweet and dried blueberry fruit. Moderately dense and structured. Gentle, fine-grained tannins. Bittersweet, baking- chocolate finish. Pair with simple grilled lamb chops, wild mushroom and beef stew, or crispy duck pancakes. Alcohol 13.7%. 274 cases produced.

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.

Each year, we pick each of our small blocks of the Bordeaux varietals and ferment and barrel age them individually. Occasionally, we release them as very small quantity, single-varietal bottlings such as this one.

The 3.05 acres of Block 14 were planted in 1995. In 2019, budbreak in Block 14 was April 2nd, bloom occurred on May 28th, veraison on July 30th, and harvest was on September 17th. Bloom-to-harvest was 112 days. After cold-soaking and primary fermentation in stainless steel, the wine underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel and was aged 15 months in French oak barrels, approximately 40% of which are new each year.