Hewitt Vineyards, May 12th, 2012

Winery - 7 / Wines - 8
Range:  1 to 9 (9 is best, 5 is average)
See notes on Provenance Vineyards earlier.  Just one Cabernet Sauvignon, but what a cab it is.
www.hewittvineyards.com

Anyone who knows about Hewitt Vineyards knows that the operation is really a specialized operation of Provenance Vineyards.  The Hewitt Vineyard consists of a parcel located in Rutherford’s prime western bench lands.  There is plenty of history behind the vineyard, which you can read about on the Hewitt web site.  I discovered this wine through a friend who had a buddy that worked on the bottling line.  One of the “employee benefits” was passed on to my friend who shared it with me … and I was hooked.  Of course, the Hewitt wines are poured in the Provenance tasting room, and I have already reviewed that experience.  Today’s experience was an exclusive event giving wine club members a special preview of the 2009 release of Hewitt.


The Rutherford Benchland, Provenance Vineyard in foreround, Hewitt Vineyard off in the distance

My experience was slightly different from that of other guests because I was greeted by the winemaker himself, Tom Rinaldi.  Tom Rinaldi is a fun-spirited man who strives for perfection in his art and seems happiest when his guests are enjoying his craft.  He packed four guests, a case of wine, himself and a coworker into an electric cart and drove us all to the special events house in the vineyards behind the main winery.  The guest house is surrounded by lawn and large shade trees, which established the perfect springtime setting for tasting through the Hewitt wines.  The event was very casual (think shorts and a comfortable shirt), featured a live band playing upbeat music that was not intrusive, Spanish paella, and some very tasty hors d’oeuvres.  There were plenty of tables to sit at, each with a shade umbrella and linens.  Guests were greeted with a glass of the newly released 2011 Sauvignon Blanc and advised about the various vintages of Hewitt Cabernet available for tasting.  For me, the highlight of the event was when the winemaker drew a Swiss army knife from his pocket, flipped out the scissors, and snipped an errant whisker from my mustache.  There’s a story I won’t be able to tell enough times.



The tasting room entrance at Provenance Vineyards

I make no secret of this:  Hewitt Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is my favorite wine from Napa Valley (when factoring in the price, which I always do).  The wine delivers amazing consistency of quality across strong vintages and weak ones.  Today was my first ever experience tasting five consecutive vintages of Hewitt Cabernet in one sitting.  I began with the 2009 vintage, which is probably the most powerful Hewitt that I have tasted, though this wine is clearly young and in need of some cellaring.  Next, I tasted the 2010 directly from barrel – great fruit!  I next had the 2006 and the 2008.  Finally, Tom had urged me to try the 2009 “Double Plus”, which had an amazing entrance to the palette.  Of the wines poured at the event, my favorite was the 2008 for its terrific balance and flavor.  Finally, I went inside the Provenance tasting room to taste the 2007 Hewitt, which was my favorite wine of the entire day.  (I also tasted the 2007 Provenance Three Palms Merlot and was delighted that the wine was one of the bottles in my club shipment.)  Knowing that I would be tasting a substantial amount of good wine, I planned two hours for the event.

Based on this experience, I rate the wines tasted an eight.  The winery rating is carried over from the prior Provenance visit.