Description
Kendric Vineyards is a small vigneron’s operation. We make Pinot Noir and Viognier from our vineyard in Marin and Syrah and, more recently, Sangiovese from my Mom’s vineyard the Shenandoah Valley. My name is Stewart Johnson and I handle all aspects of production — from planting and farming the vineyards, to making the wine, to now pitching it to you. When I say “handle,” I don’t mean the photo-op level of participation common to the industry. Every vine and every barrel has my hand prints all over it. Eileen Burke is my wife. She has kept the roof over our heads at home which has allowed me to spend my days in the vineyard and the winery. While running her busy legal practice, she found time to have our kids, Lucy and Owen, nine years ago. With so much time on her hands, I’ve suggested that wine marketing might be a fun hobby. Kendric Johnson was my Dad and is the person for whom this enterprise was named. He died in 2001 just as we were getting started. Naming the company after him is meant to both honor his memory and to impose his high personal standards upon the undertaking.
Kendric Vineyards Marin County Pinot Noir 2009
Wine Enthusiast Tasting Note
Light in color, this Marin County Pinot Noir is cool-climate in all its glory, with herbal and red cherry layers swathed in silky tannins and a finish of cola spice. A lovely introduction to Marin’s propensity for Pinot, pair this wine with quiche Lorraine or bacon-wrapped figs. Score – 91. (VIRGINIE BOONE, Wine Enthusiast, Aug. 2013)
Prince of Pinot Tasting Note
Light reddish color in the glass. Very seductive aromas of ripe cherries, red currants, sandalwood and walnuts, picking up interest and intensity over time in the glass. Relatively light in weight but flavorful, offering notes of brandied cherries, spice, and a hint of vanillin oak, with some of the cherry fragrance returning to haunt the finish. Very soft tannins make for easy drink ability. Very good. Reviewed October 2, 2012
Cellar Tracker Tasting Note
SERIOUSLY tasty and in a really, really good place. I had a strong impression, on two consecutive evenings, of this being “clear like a bell”. I don’t primarily mean the body (though that’s probably a factor: I mentioned “glassy” in both prior notes, and there *is* something very sleek and silky about this); I mean the nose and especially the taste. And I don’t mean one-note, any more than a bell is one note: a bell has lots of harmonics, and this slightly spicy cherry/raspberry-fruited does too, and all seemingly in perfect mathematical ratios to the fundamental frequency just like a bell – hence, the perfect clarity and harmony. This was my last of four oh-nines, but happily I’ve got a couple cases worth of other years awaiting.
