2015 Hendry Blocks 7 & 22 Zinfandel Napa Valley 750 ml

Hendry’s Block 7 & 22 Zinfandel Napa Valley is one of our favorite classic California Zins, and this is our very first allocation—but that’s not the only reason we’re so excited.
 
We’re thrilled because our first offer of this must-try Napa Valley Zinfandel might just be the best one to ever come off the estate: Wine Enthusiast has been rating Hendry wines for two decades, and has never rated one higher than this 94-point 2015. 

First planted with grapes 150 years ago, the Hendry estate is now heading into its ninth decade being run by the family, which purchased it in 1939. As Napa Valley wines rose in fame in the 1970s, Hendry Ranch fruit began to stand apart, and by the late 80s, Robert Mondavi was funneling Hendry Cabernet into Opus One. Around the same time, Zinfandel master Kent Rosenblum put the Hendry name in the spotlight with his spectacular George Hendry Reserve Zinfandel.  
 
This is no sun-drenched fruit bomb, but a Claret-like Zin of impeccable balance by one of Napa Valley’s most iconic Zin-producing families. With is supple aromas of dark cherry fruit, orange rind, cocoa, white pepper, spice, and black tea, this wine bursts with beguiling Zinfandel aromatics. It’s medium bodied, with a balanced palate offering tons of red fruit, bittersweet chocolate, smoke, and a solid structure built on bright acid and subdued tannins. Enthusiast calls the Hendry “spicy, sublime and expansive” and “brimming in freshness and complexity.” 

“Blocks 7 & 22 do some things very naturally that are hard to do in the winery,” George O. Hendry told us when we caught up with him mid-harvest, and asked him about why this bottling has remained a flagship over the years. “It’s on very austere soil, and the vines are stressed quite a bit. We get structure in the wine, and significant mouthfeel while still maintaining the characteristic Zinfandel fruit.” 
 
Hendry is unique because it remains in the tight-knit family—George makes the wines and his nephew Mike manages the vineyard—and because of the array of more than a dozen different grape varieties that they grow at their property at the foot of Mount Veeder. This is possible is because of their location in Napa Valley—just 1.5 miles away from Carneros and the cooling influence of San Pablo Bay, but far enough north to enjoy the kind of heat that the grapes need to achieve fantastic ripeness—is ideal for many different grapes.

“We’re on the benchlands, and these little rolling hills are rather dry, so we get relatively low yields and we get great concentration in the wine. We’re in southern Napa county, where it’s about seven or eight degrees warmer than Carneros, but cooler than Oakville,” George told us. That climatic tightrope is also what happens to make Hendry Ranch perfect for exquisite Zinfandel, which takes up nearly a quarter of the 114 acre estate. George made a Block 7 Zinfandel in 1992—it was one of his original wines—and when Block 22 starting bearing fruit (it was planted in 1995), he realized that he could barely taste the difference between 7 & 22 when he tasted them blind. Combining them was the natural thing to do.  

Twenty years later, Block 7 & 22 remains one of Hendry’s top, and top-selling—wines. Aged 15 months in one-third new French oak, it’s an aromatic, fruit-forward, beautifully structured Zin. 

This is a true California classic, and one we’re thrilled to bring to you.