Napa Valley Wine Dinner with Hendry Winery

The legendary story of Hendry Wines is pivotal to the history of Napa Valley wine production. It began in 1944, when just 5 years after they had purchased their new Napa Valley farm, Margaret Hendry's husband died suddenly. Caring for her two young sons George O and Andrew, Margaret single-handedly maintained the ranch and oversaw the farming of grapes, prune-plums, walnuts and cattle. She prioritized her sons' educations and her eldest, George, graduated from U.C. Berkeley, and her younger son, Andrew, from U.C. Davis. George O went on to gain a masters degree and build a career in cyclotron engineering while maintaining his family's ranch.

With his engineering earnings, George built a reservoir, and in 1973, 74, and 75, replanted most of the ranch to vineyard. Some of these plantings returned vineyard to land that had been fallow for nearly 100 years. In the 1970s, Robert Mondavi was a rising star in Napa’s wine industry, and was soon buying the grapes from the ranch. By the late 80s Mondavi was buying all of the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and dividing the Cabernet Sauvignon with Opus One. Kent Rosenblum was buying the remaining 9 acres of Zinfandel and bottling a “George Hendry Reserve”. After 50 years of growing, the Hendry Ranch was beginning to develop a reputation for its grapes.

The first vintage in the Hendry label was in 1992, and included Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel. Over the next ten years, George sold smaller and smaller quantities, and crushed more for his own wines with a lighter hand to produce elegant, terroir driven, and site-specific expressions of Napa Valley wines. George is a farmer above all else, and this is clear in the quality of these wines. Today, his nephew Mike Hendry, is managing the vineyard full-time, and has moved his family to the ranch to train the next generation of legendary Napa Valley grape growers.

We are so excited to welcome Hendry Sales Manager, Angela Douglas, to Vermilion for a four-course meal paired with their fine Napa Valley Wines! She will present the wines and give insight into their winery and vineyard management.

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