Hope & Grace Wines is located in the Washington Square on the west side of Washington Street in Yountville across the street from Ciccio Restaurant and Pancha’s of Yountville; their original tasting room opened in 2004 and was located in the tiny Beard Plaza. After 20 years in their original location, in December 2024, the Hope and Grace tasting room moved to its current location. Along with Hill Family Winery, Hope & Grace was the second winery to receive their tasting room permit in Yountville (the first being Jessup Cellars in NoYo (North Yountville).
The tasting salon features wines from Hope & Grace and very limited production wines bottled under the Hendricks label. In addition to wine, other items are for sale including works of art on display from guest artists, a variety of wine accessories and a variety of cigars. Yountville is not a large town; the central location of the tasting room is within walking distance of the French Laundry, Bouchon and other well-known area restaurants.
Hope & Grace was founded by winemaker Charles Hendricks; the first vintage was from 2001. Charles was raised in Anaheim (Orange County). His father was a veterinarian and Charles was introduced to his father’s practice at an early age, helping sometimes during surgeries and later working at a local vet hospital. Thinking about following in his fathers’ footsteps, he enrolled in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine – the largest such program in the country.
After a year and a half, he began to rethink his major and about this time he enrolled in an introduction to wine making class. Finding the course stimulating he decided to change majors and ultimately graduated with a degree in Viticulture (while taking many wine making courses).
After graduating UC Davis in 1982 Charles took a job as an assistant enologist at Robert Mondavi owned Woodbridge followed by a cellar position at California’s oldest continuously family-owned winery, Gundlach Bundschu in Sonoma County. A job at The Bottling Room, one of only several mobile bottling companies in existence in the Napa/Sonoma area at the time proved to be a great introduction to a number of vineyards, wineries and owners including Randy Dunn (Dunn Vineyards) and John Williams (Frog’s Leap).
In a career that has spanned more than 40 years, Charles has made wine at a remarkable number of Napa Valley based wineries – sometimes working multiple winery jobs at once like when he was cellar master at Chateau Montelena during the day and working the nights in the cellar at Barnett Vineyards. He was the founding winemaker or helped oversee the start of several Napa wineries including Barnett Vineyards, Paoletti, Regusci, T-Vine, James Cole, Kuleto Estate and Mendelson among others.
While working at Barnett Vineyards he was introduced to the Sleepy Hollow vineyard located in the Santa Lucia Highlands of Monterey County. In 2001 he was offered fruit from this vineyard and quickly moved to establish Hope & Grace, as prior to this offer he had not yet made any wine under his own label. He named the wine after his two daughters.
Charles philosophy with wine making is to conduct minimal intervention in the wine cellar, but as he says, “if we leave nature completely on its own, we would be in the vinegar business.” His ideal wines showcase texture, great fruit, excellent acidity and are a representation of both variety and place or terroir if you will. All his wines are 100% varietal. And we might add, all the Hope & Grace wines we have tried over the year have always been highly aromatic, regardless of variety, vintage or site.
Visitors to the tasting room might be drawn to the large painting titled, Figure in Red. Painted by Oakland born artist Charles Eckart, this painting has been in Charles’ collection for many years. And the painting has become iconic around these parts – it is used as the label on all the Hope & Grace wines.
Select Wines
Hope & Grace
Whites
The 2022 Hope & Grace Sémillon Sonoma Valley; this wine is medium gold; the bouquet is highly aromatic and intense, with scents of honeycomb, honeysuckle, vanilla, caramel, crème Brule, pineapple, apricot and a layer of hazelnut. The texture is supple and silky, gliding gently over the palate but bursting with flavor including red apple, comise pear, mandarin orange, pomelo and lemon juice. The finish is rich and long lasting with bright but balanced acidity. This wine was aged sur lie. The texture and intensity of flavor are two characteristics to consider when deciding what to pair this bottling with. It might do well with either cod or salmon, fish that have a higher oil content.
It is rare to find a 100% varietal Sémillon grown in Napa Valley. The 2016 Hope & Grace Sémillon is from the Stags Leap District, not a part of Napa Valley known for this variety. It was barrel fermented in neutral oak and aged sur lie (with minimal battonage). The bouquet sports a union of tropical aromas including lychee, guava, honeysuckle and citrus blossom. Supple from start to finish, the palate reveals rich flavors of citrus throughout with some mineral nuances on the finish. This is a very balanced wine.
Based on the relationships that Charles has developed with numerous vintners and vineyards over the years he can be selective on which vineyard sites he works with. Case in point is when vineyard manager Doug Hill was getting ready to plant three acres next to the Napa River in the Oak Knoll District, he talked to Charles first. Charles told him he was interested in Riesling, so Doug planted this variety.
The 2016 Hope & Grace Riesling (smartly called a dry Riesling, to clarify for people who are used to drinking sweet wines of this variety) saw no malolactic fermentation. Charles compares his Riesling as “California ripe but made in a Chablis style” – barrel fermented and aged on the lees. It is golden color in the glass with initially a slight nuance of the petrol notes that Rieslings can develop with age. Shows some intriguing baking spices on the bouquet with fruit aromatics being green apple and lime. It is superbly balanced and with a crisp and energetic vibe across the palate due to the bright acidity.
Reds
The 2019 Hope & Grace Pinot Noir Russian River Valley is medium ruby in color; this is not a shy bouquet. It its both savory, spicy and fruity and showcases plenty of aromatic depth. It features aromas of crushed dark pepper, bacon fat, old cedar box, creosote, damp potting soil, pipe tobacco, roasted coffee beans, mocha and as the wine evolves, makes way for dark raspberry, cherry and plum. When a wine’s bouquet gives us more than the normal amount of descriptors, we are always happy. The palate is plush with seamless, soft, rounded and almost creamy textured tannins. This wine reveals flavors of plum, pink peppercorn, dark raspberry and red vine licorice. Dried herbs, a note of crushed peppercorns and a very subtle drying character felt more on the front of the palate, continues to persist on the fruit-filled finish. This is riper styled, but not linear Pinot Noir; it could stand up to some lighter style meats such as pork chops or lamb.
In Napa Valley we know of two plantings of Lagrein; a tiny block at Vice Versa’s vineyard in Calistoga and Turnbull Winery has less then 3 acres planted of this variety in their Oakville Leopoldina Vineyard. Lagrein is native to parts of northern Italy. It is not very popular in California but limited plantings are found on California’s Central Coast. The Hope & Grace’s bottling from 2015 was sourced from French Camp Vineyards in Paso Robles.
The 2015 Hope & Grace Lagrein is deep ruby. The bouquet is elegant and opens with aromas of petrichor, leather, some dark spices including pepper, dark raspberry and cherry. There is plenty of fruit still showing on both the bouquet and the palate. The palate echoes the bouquet to some extent with sweetly-fruited flavors of cherry, raspberry along with blackberry and mulberry. The integrated tannins sport a lightly grainy texture; their presence is felt as a lightly chewy character on the finish. A subtle dusty nuance parallels the fruit for some time. This wine is holding its fruit very well at nine years post vintage at the time of our tasting. And dare we say it still holds some freshness. It drinks well by itself. This wine was aged for 12 months in French oak barrels.
Another variety that few Napa Valley wineries produce as 100% varietal is Malbec; the Hope & Grace bottling does not disappoint. The 2019 Hope & Grace Malbec, Oak Knoll is deep ruby and opaque with an amaranthine rim. Several pronounced baking spice aromatics hit our olfactory nerves as soon as we dipped our beak, deep into the glass. These include cinnamon stick, clove and nutmeg; something in the scents reminded us of the delicious Biscoff cookies which we strongly associate with airline snacks. And there is a note of fresh sage. But there are plenty of darker fruit aromatics at play here including plum, blackberry, boysenberry and cherry jam. A layer of mocha and espresso hides deeper in the bouquet. The palate is juicy and alive, offering flavors of blueberries, red plum, currant, dark raspberries and assorted dried herbs and a light kiss of dark pepper. The grainy textured, but integrated tannins fully coat the palate and outpace the fruit on the finish with their drying character. This is a beautiful wine well worth seeking out.
Hendricks
Charles bottles several wines under the Hendricks Label including a Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon. He only makes the Hendricks Cabernet Sauvignon during special vintages when the quality of the grapes is exceptional. As of our latest update to this review, the Hendricks Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon has only been made in 2004, 2005, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018.
The 2021 Hendricks Reserve Chardonnay, Yountville Napa Valley is deep gold in color; generous, layered and aromatically diverse, the bouquet reveals scents of dried apricot, peaches, yellow nectarines, baked pineapple, honeyed notes, golden delicious apple, papaya, mango, melting butter, popcorn, toasted hazelnut, corn tassel, butterscotch, caramel, caramelized sugars similar to that of creme Brule, vanilla, custard and toasted coconut. Rich and full bodied, the palate offers flavors of pineapple, honeycomb, butterscotch, caramel, toasted almond, hazelnut, dried orange peel, golden apples and very ripe citrus, perhaps closet to that of a tangerine or mandarin. Thoroughly decadent, this wine lingers with a note of toasted oak and a light drying character, most likely from its oak tannins. Not flabby or viscous, its vivacious and mouth watering acidity keeps the palate lifted. But still there is plenty of oak on the finish. In terms of pairing, try pasta, the creamier the better.
The 2014 St. Helena Hendricks Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon spent slightly more than 30 months in both new and used French oak barrels. The bouquet reveals attractive spices including tobacco leaf, crushed pepper and a savory component featuring both red and darker fruit aromas including blackberry and boysenberry. Bright and lively, this wine sings on the palate. It displays beautiful texture, excellent acidity and an intensity of fruit. Lingering notes of vanilla and toasted oak spice show on the finish. The tannins are pronounced but not harsh. It has all the hallmarks of being an extremely age-worthy wine and a Cabernet Sauvignon well-worth seeking out.
The 2014 vintage is from the Lewelling Vineyard near the town of St. Helena. Along with the Hope & Grace St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine is made from the same block within this historic vineyard each year. Lewelling Vineyards is one of the oldest continuously owned family vineyards in the Napa Valley with family roots dating back to 1864 when the family patriarch John Lewelling moved to St. Helena. The vineyard itself is located at the base of the Mayacamas mountains on the western side of the valley. The vines grow on rich bench-land soils; several premium producers’ source from this vineyard and there is a waiting list to purchase their grapes.
Tasting Room
On Saturday December 7, 2024, Hope & Grace hosted a soft opening to celebrate the move of their tasting room to Building E in the complex that currently houses R+D Kitchen, Hillstone Home and Honor Market & Gas Station. This tasting room is in Washington Square, a collection of small shops and tourism related businesses within walking distance of a number of hotels, restaurants and other tasting rooms. This is in north Yountville, called NoYo if you are a local, i.e., a Yountie. Yountville is small enough that if you are up for a walk, you can visit this tasting room with an easy walk from other locations along Washington Street. The tasting room is modern with both a tasting bar and tables for seated tastings. A sandpapered effect on the white paint on the walls provides a nice touch in the main room. And a side room provides the space for private tastings.
The prior winery occupant was Girard.
The Taste of Yountville Live is held once a year (in April) and is usually hosted in downtown Yountville. In 2024 this event was moved to Domaine Chandon, a short drive from the center of town. Regardless of location, this is an excellent opportunity to try wines from a number of Yountville wineries and producers including Hope & Grace. While the focus is on Yountville producers, sometimes wineries who own vineyards or buy grapes from Yountville producers will also taste their wines at this event.
As of our latest update to this review most of their wines are sourced from premium vineyards in Napa Valley but vineyard sources also include fruit from Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Sonoma Counties. Total production each year is around 4,000 cases. Unlike many small wineries who sell through current releases as quickly as possible, Hope & Grace often has slightly older vintages for tasting and or purchase.
For more information, to purchase wines and or to join their mailing list or the appropriately named SWIRL wine club, visit: www.hopeandgracewines.com and www.hendrickswines.com.
Former tasting room
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