Cool Napa, Serious Wines | Susan Ridley, Hendry Wines

Vintage episode (2006)

Why This Episode Matters

• The Guys dissect classic “wine gaffes” and the social survival tactics that follow.
• Susan Ridley explains why Hendry’s vineyard site matters: cool maritime influence, rocky soils and foothill elevation 
• A look at vineyard thinking from a grower-driven perspective, where farming stress, decades of experience, and selectivity shape the wine.
• Wine dinners are the best “real-world” wine education: food changes everything.

The Banter

Mark Pascal and Francis Schott open with wine-party etiquette wars. How to prevent your “special bottle” from being shelved like an unwanted candle and why perfume at tastings should be a misdemeanor.

The Conversation

Susan Ridley (Brookside Ranch) joins to tell the accidental origin story of becoming George Hendry’s partner—starting with dinner at the neighbor’s house and ending with a serious winery built on one vineyard, no purchased fruit. The Guys dig into what makes Hendry’s site in Napa’s cooler corner so distinctive, why vineyard stress and rocky soils can produce better wine, and how wine dinners teach pairing in a way tastings never can. Along the way: vineyard tours with a pith-helmeted nuclear physicist, Napa seasonality, legendary blackberry jam, and the screw cap vs. cork debate.

Timestamps

0:00 – Welcome + Natalie MacLean’s “Grapes of Gaffe” 

2:15 – Having your host ignore your bottle, too much perfume and “off” bottles

9:00 – Guest Introduction: Susan Ridley, Brookside Ranch and Hendry Wines

12:50 – Hendry vineyard location, elevation, and rocky soils

15:45 – George Hendry, farmer and nuclear physicist 

20:40 – Wine dinners and lessons they teach

23:13 – Brookside Ranch B&B + Napa seasonality

29:00 – Screw caps vs. cork closures discussion

Guest Bio

Susan Ridley was a partner in Hendry Wines in Napa Valley and proprietor of Brookside Ranch, a historic bed-and-breakfast neighboring the Hendry estate. She worked closely with grower-winemaker George Hendry on communicating the winery’s vineyard-first philosophy and focus on estate fruit. Susan passed away in 2025.

Info

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Transcript

francis 1:16

Morning, mark.

mark 1:16

Hey Francis,

francis 1:17

how are you this morning?

mark 1:18

I'm doing pretty good.

francis 1:19

Uh, we're gonna start today with an article written by, uh, a former guest of this show, a woman named Natalie McClain is a Canadian wine writer, and she has a website called Nat Decant. It's a great website, and I, she has a newsletter that she comes out like once a month, once every couple of weeks, and I get it. It's emailed to me and I,

mark 1:34

she sends it right

francis 1:34

over. I often really enjoy it, and she writes about. She's a Canadian wine writer, but she writes about wine from around the world, but she also writes about Canadian wine occasionally, and that is an area that most people don't know about the United States, and that is a. A fast rising, uh, place to get quality wine. It's really, you know, quality wine grows. Really great wine comes from the extremities of where wine is produced. I mean, in the coolest places where you often get some of the best wine, where it's a little difficult to grow wine, you often get the best wine. Canada's got some great stuff, but she wrote this most recent article. Well, most recent for me, um, on, she calls it the Grapes of Gaff. she says, uh, these are the times when you wish you could crawl into a bottle and pull the cork in behind you. You know, what do you do when, when, when you're, when these, these, in unusual social situations,

mark 2:20

these, these wine gaffes occur.

francis 2:22

So she presents a number of situations and solutions, and, and I, I don't wanna, I don't wanna talk about it, right? Uh, here's situation number one after standing in line to buy a limited edition wine in nap, uh, in Napa Valley, dragging it back to your suitcase and carefully storing it in your cellar for several years. You take the coveted bottle to dinner at your friend's home and you want to have it with dinner with them, and share it with them and share your travels. You watch as they blithely, take the bottle and put it on the shelf while offering you the cheap schlock that's already open. What do you do?

mark 2:49

We all have friends like this because I, because I come over, I usually have, you know, a 50 or a hundred dollars bottle of wine and,

francis 2:57

and here's a kete.

mark 2:57

And frequently it just goes, it goes up on, oh, how nice. Thank you.

francis 3:01

Yeah. Yeah. And they put it in the sunlight, you know, or something. Yeah. Anyway. Um. Here's the solution and I think it's a good one. Um, my solution is I carry a cor screw in my back pocket. I walk over to the cabinet, I take it down. I say, oh, try it. Um, mm-hmm. If you wanna drink your wine, make it obvious by, and these are great solutions. Calling ahead to ask the host, which one you can contribute to compliment what's being served for dinner. That's

mark 3:23

a great solution.

francis 3:24

Isn't that great? Here's another one. When you arrive, stay alert, agile, and ready for the next move on the doorstep with core screw in hand. If necessary, use assumptive close sales technique. Um. Here's the California Cabernet for dinner. Where would you like me to open it and let it breathe? That short of decanting wine in the car should adequately make the point. I agree entirely.

mark 3:46

As you start crossing over the threshold of the house, you should begin cutting the lead off of the top of the

francis 3:51

box. Yeah. Look, look at what I got. Well, I, I always do like a Dean Martin used to carry on a a, a glass of whiskey, which I'm tempted to do when hosting in Catherine Lombardi restaurant with Little Rocks. How's everything this evening? Um, you know, show up with the open bottle of wine and a glass poured for yourself as you approach. Okay, next situation with art, and we've been in this situation, and this is something a lot of people don't realize.

mark 4:10

I've been in that last situation a lot. Uh, it just, it's happened to me a million times, but usually I bring a bottle of wine that's nicer than what most people serve at those types of parties, but. Let's open it. Come

francis 4:22

on.

mark 4:22

It's for us.

4:22

Hey,

francis 4:22

this is great. And it's drinking perfectly right now. Like now

mark 4:26

An hour from now

francis 4:27

tomorrow it's gonna be declining. Yeah. Alright, here's another situation with eyes closed. You breathe in deeply. Searching for exotic aromas in your glass of Burgundian Pinot Noir. Instead, an accurate smell jabs its way up your nostrils. Sing your nose hair. This isn't the aroma of wet violets underneath the delicate layer of French oak you were expecting. It's more like Chanel number five. In fact, it is Chanel number five. The woman sitting next to you must have bathed in it this evening before coming. Um, since. People who wear strong scents to wine events, we ask people not to wear a scent to wine events because 90% of wine is smell.

mark 4:59

Our employees are actually not allowed to wear anything scented while they're working for us,

francis 5:05

including hand lotions.

mark 5:06

Mm-hmm.

francis 5:06

How many surprised new employees have been reprimanded for the hand lotion? Because they bring you your glass of wine, you're like

mark 5:12

mm-hmm.

francis 5:13

Smells like, uh. Coconuts. Why does the wine smell like coconuts?

mark 5:17

There aren't people on our staff whose lip gloss is too smelly. We're like, sorry, you gotta lose the lip gloss.

francis 5:22

Um, yeah, we're pretty picky to work for, huh? Don't let your children work for us. They'll be scarred for life. Um, uh, the solution short of diluting the woman's essence with your table water or a fire hose. There aren't many options. Um, and you should, you could leave, but you could move, but there's really nothing to do. So be careful when you wear a scent, because what happens when you put a scent on 20 minutes later, you don't smell it anymore. Mm-hmm. But we do. So we all have, we all have to be careful about that. Okay. Next situation. The crusty sommelier has just poured you the rare bottle of vanilla, detol, chino to sample. As you swirl it in your mouth, you realize it's gone bad. Probably corked, what do you say?

mark 5:57

This is an easy one.

francis 5:58

Excuse me.

mark 6:00

This is an easy one. I don't need, I don't need Natalie for this one.

francis 6:02

She actually, she has a good one, which she says that this is great. Rather than say, this wine is corked, if you're not sure, and most people who aren't professional sometimes aren't sure.

mark 6:10

Mm-hmm.

francis 6:10

You can say, I think this bottle is off, or, or, you know, would you try this bottle? Or if it's the captain that's opening the bottle of wine, can you say, you know, can you have the sommelier try this bottle? Mm-hmm. I don't think it's quite right and for most places that will usually suffice sometimes. The wine is just not what you're expecting, right? If, if the wine is different, that doesn't, then you may be expecting, doesn't mean you should send it back.

mark 6:31

There are a lot of funky wines out there. We have a wine on our list, Bernard Leve Coat Roti, which

francis 6:36

smells like a wet cow,

mark 6:37

which is not what a lot of people expect when they open a bottle of wine. It smells like wet leather. It smells like, like, like what the French call Al. Uh. That wine can take somebody by surprise.

francis 6:49

I call it a wet cow. I'm not French. I guess they're the same though, huh?

mark 6:53

But it's supposed to be

francis 6:55

right

mark 6:55

to smell like wet leather. That's what that wine is at its best.

francis 6:58

And if you send it back, you're gonna miss out on a whole bunch of cool stuff. Mm-hmm. But it's, it's unexpected. And I can see why one would, but that's why when someone presents you a bottles wine, say, you know, I think this is a little off. Why don't you try it?

mark 7:08

Now

francis 7:08

the problem is what happens when you're with a staff that says, oh, it's fine. Because I've been in that situation where I've said, yeah, why don't you try this? And I know because I'm a professional is what I do for a living.

mark 7:17

You know what? And in that case, let's talk about what we we do in that situation, right? If we think a bottle of wine is fine, in that situation with most bottles of wine. What we would say is okay, and we would take it to the bar and sell it by the glass. And, and

francis 7:29

as

mark 7:29

restaurateur. As restaurateur And do, and do something with

francis 7:32

that. No, no. I'm sorry. What I, yes. If the bottle of wine is indeed fine and the person wants to send it back, we will normally take it back.

mark 7:38

So what you should do, if the, if the Matre D says this is fine, and you really don't think it's fine, and again, we're not talking about wines that you don't, that, that are different than you expected them to be. We're thinking, we're talking about wines that you think are actually bad. You should refuse the wine, I think.

francis 7:53

I agree. Okay. Final situation. You've just poured a fine example of a vintage German Riesling when your friend asks for some ginger ale to make a spritzer. Hmm.

mark 8:04

I like her solution here.

francis 8:05

Her solution

mark 8:05

is, this is, this is very nice.

francis 8:07

Her solution is don't pass judgment. Not everyone SAVs the nuances of fine wine. Some people simply prefer something refreshing. Let's not be silly. Let's get up and get the ginger ale. There's no, um, offer to get the ginger ale from the kitchen while whisking away the glass from your guest. No need to explain why you must take the wine in order to get the ginger ale, but when you get into the kitchen, you can pour that wine into your glass and open up the cheap Chablis that you have in the refrigerator. For your mother-in-law

mark 8:30

that

francis 8:31

waiting to come over?

mark 8:31

No. The chiefs should believe that somebody brought over to your house when they came over and instead of opening, you said, I can't serve this to my guests.

francis 8:39

Well, and you saved it for just such an example. Put the ginger ale in it. Everybody's happy. Uh, we have coming up with us in the next segment, we have a a, a wine on one hold my

mark 8:47

dry cleaner, like. To give me bottles of wine like that.

francis 8:49

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I hope she's not listening. Um, we, we have coming up a winemaker from California, uh, partners with George Henry is Susan Ridley. We're gonna be talking with her in just a moment. You are listening to the Restaurant Guys, Hey, you are back with the restaurant guys. Mark, Pascal and Francis. Shot of stage left in Catherine Lombardi. Restaurants in downtown New Brunswick and we have joining us today, Susan Ridley, Susan and her husband Tom live in the Brookside Ranch in Napa, California right next to. And uh, she's also partners with one of the most intelligent and knowledgeable winemakers and grape growers in all of California. A gentleman named George Henry. At the Henry Winery. Susan, how are you?

susan 9:20

Fine. How are you?

mark 9:21

Morning, Susan.

susan 9:22

Good morning. It's nice to talk to both of

mark 9:24

you. Yeah. Long time. No speak.

susan 9:26

I know. Just on the emails. That's all we ever talk anymore.

francis 9:29

Now that's

mark 9:29

the way of the world. That's the way it's gone. Susan.

francis 9:31

Now you lived in Jersey for a while. It, it's 29 degrees out here. Do you miss it?

susan 9:35

Not at all. Not at all.

francis 9:39

So let's tell everybody, I mean, we know your story, um, but you didn't move to California to get into the wine business, right? You were just minding your own business. And the nice knit man next door turned out to be George Henry, one of the. Best winemakers in California and now you're partners and flying all over the world to explain George's wine. How did that happen?

susan 9:56

Well, you know, George is a bachelor. And loves to have, um,

francis 9:59

you guys have something going on there? I, no,

susan 10:01

no, no. But he loves good food and good wine. Uhhuh.

francis 10:07

That's

susan 10:07

why he always loves to do those dinners with you.

francis 10:09

Right.

mark 10:09

And

susan 10:10

by the way,

mark 10:10

Susan's a really good cook.

susan 10:12

So think I'm, yeah. And he lives over there all by himself, and I love to cook. So he would've many, many, many dinner. With my husband and I, and we would, um, uh, have, try different wines with different things and with different foods, and we just always enjoyed that. Now, when George decided that he wanted to, um, sell a little less of his fruit to other wineries and keeps them for his own label. And start up a Henry label, that's something you just don't do by yourself.

mark 10:41

Right.

susan 10:42

Um, it's, uh, too much work. I,

mark 10:45

I understand. I have a partner in the restaurant for the same reason. He

francis 10:48

doesn't even like me

mark 10:48

otherwise, there's no chance Francis would still be around.

susan 10:52

So George and I became business partners in the winery, and I concentrate mostly on sales and marketing.

mark 10:58

Mm-hmm.

susan 10:59

But when we were, um, first starting out, you know, we, our first release was only 500 cases. Can you believe that?

francis 11:05

Yes. I

mark 11:05

remember.

susan 11:06

And, um, when it was only 500 cases, I did a lot more, uh, I, my position description was more varied. Um,

francis 11:14

and what year was that? What was the first release?

susan 11:15

The first release was in 1995.

announcer 11:17

Yeah.

francis 11:18

Yeah. We bought a hundred of those 500 cases, I think. No, I'm kidding. It's, I'm exaggerating, but only slightly.

susan 11:23

And now we're, uh, last year we sold 12,000 cases.

francis 11:27

Wow. That's great. But that's still a small winery. It's

susan 11:29

still very, very hands-on. Oh, it's very small. And, and we're limited to about that size because we will only make wine from George's Vineyard. Mm-hmm. And we do not purchase any grapes. And the vineyard is. We were pretty much maxing out, um, the quality fruit that the print vineyard produces.

mark 11:45

Let's, let's talk about some of the, some of the selling of wine that you guys have done. You guys, you guys used to sell a lot of your grapes to, various different people. Uh, Opus one was on the the Mondavi Reserve had had some, uh, grapes that you, guys. Sold to them?

susan 12:00

Correct.

mark 12:00

Why were they so interested in the grapes from from George's land?

susan 12:04

Well, George has such a unique vineyard. You know, where we have elevation, we're not a valley floor vineyard. We're in the foothills of the Mayas mountains and we have, but we're low enough that we still have that wonderful maritime climate. Of Canaro. Mm-hmm. That's a very unusual combination for the valley. Mm-hmm. There's not many places in the valley that has that combination.

francis 12:25

Let me, let me explain what that's all about. When, what Susan's talking about is, you know, the grape wine, especially when you're talking about small producer wine like this, where it's from a specific place, what people are looking for in California, which which never has a problem with enough sunshine to get grapes ripe. They're looking for in Napa especially. Cool places. That's why when you look on the back of a wine label, they'll say, oh, it's, you know, several thousand feet up on the, on the Rutherford bench. Or it's, it's, you know, has the cool maritime influences from the ocean. And Carneros is an inter Appalachian of Napa and Sonoma that's cooler. And George's property is that you're in the coolest interation of Napa Valley overall. Right. And that leads to a better quality grape.

susan 12:59

Yeah, and I, I, it does, it's, it's very unique. We can, the food, the fruit can get very. Nice and ripe without getting that dead ripe, pruny, overripe, uh, characteristics.

mark 13:14

Right. And, and Francis and I describe that sometimes as like a dried fruit flavor, that when, when the fruit gets too ripe.

francis 13:19

Right. And, and, and what can happen. Just so you understand what happens out there is a place that is a beautiful place to grow up grapevine, where a grapevine has a really easy time of it, lots of sunshine. The, what the grapevine does is it throws all of its life energy into making a beautiful plant. When you're in a cooler place where the grapevine has to work a little harder and maybe feels a little bit threatened. It's trained properly. It doesn't throw all of its life energy into making a beautiful plant. It throws it into the next generation into reproduction, and then it throws all of its energy into the grapes. And that's why cooler climate leads to and stress vines lead to better wines. Is that a fair analysis of, of this?

susan 13:57

It is. It's a very good analysis. And also the, the soils that George have, um, they're very rocky, thin soils. Uh, they're ancient stream beds. You go, you dig down 20 feet and all you take out is rocks.

francis 14:14

We're gonna talk about that in just a moment and, and what makes this so unique and how George is one of the most intelligent winemakers in California. Now George is a nuclear physicist by training, right? Susan?

susan 14:22

Correct.

francis 14:22

Uh, and, and, uh, and his spare time, but he is not, he's not like a nuclear physicist who made his fortune and then decided to take up farming. He's actually been on the Henry Ranch his whole life, right?

susan 14:34

He has been, his parents bought the ranch in, uh, 1939. Mm-hmm.

francis 14:39

And he's been farming there ever since.

susan 14:41

Ever since. Now on his dad, uh, died about, uh, five years after they bought the ranch. Mm-hmm. So George was only about six years old.

francis 14:49

Mm-hmm.

susan 14:49

And, um, it was, there were tough times of all those years for. He and his brother and mother. And

francis 14:57

farming's not an easy life.

susan 14:59

No, it isn't. And the ranch was not all grapes then, because back then Napa was not a monoculture. They had cattle, and cattle was a big industry in the valley, and prunes were a big industry in the valley.

francis 15:11

But George knows that land since he's six years old.

susan 15:14

Right. And they would take the grapes that they would grow up to, uh, the Christian brothers Mount LaSalle Winery right up the road from us Butch. Mm-hmm. Which is now the Hess Collection

francis 15:23

Uhhuh.

susan 15:24

And at a very young age, he figured out that the most profitable thing that they did on the ranch was grow and sell grapes.

mark 15:31

Mm-hmm.

susan 15:32

So he as a very, he, he was always, he's always been smart.

mark 15:36

Yeah. He

susan 15:37

figured out that when he grew up, he was going to make the whole ranch grapes.

mark 15:42

That's, I want my 10-year-old to figure out how to make me the most money.

francis 15:45

Why don't you talk to Susan about what people can learn by when they come out and walk the vineyards with George. And if you go, you're walking the vineyards with George or his nephew who make the wines, what will they see that they might not see otherwise in the, in the more, you know, commercial tours? You

susan 16:00

forgot to mention they should wear a hat.

francis 16:03

Oh yeah. I gotta tell you something. The first time I was at the Henry Ranch, George, how old is George? Do you mind if I ask?

susan 16:08

Uh, he's 68.

francis 16:10

Alright, so George who was 62, right? And I'm 30. We're out. We're out in the vi. We're out in the vineyard. He had me out there for two and a half hours and it was sunny as hell. And he had this little PTH helmet on.

16:21

Yes,

francis 16:21

and we're standing in the direct sunlight. I swear to God, I almost fell over and he's indestructible. George is indestructible.

mark 16:27

I gotta tell you. A little George and the little PTH helmet cracks me up.

francis 16:31

We going California

mark 16:32

right there. Cracks me up.

susan 16:34

George. George also thinks he's immortal too,

francis 16:37

by the way. He might be. He's a lot more immortal than I am.'cause he was doing fine in the direct sun. I was gonna fall over.

susan 16:43

So that's the farmer. That's what you, that's the farmer in him.

francis 16:46

So,

susan 16:46

so well, his tours are so informative. George is all about his vineyard,

francis 16:53

uhhuh

susan 16:53

about the grapes. And I think those, the wine that we produce is really a vehicle for people to see his vineyard.

francis 17:03

Well, what will they see when they're actually out of the vineyard staying at

susan 17:06

your ranch? George will take them out in the right out in the, amongst the vines. He'll show them about grafting. Mm-hmm.

francis 17:13

How

susan 17:13

grapes are grafted. He'll show them, um, how, uh, they're trained. And trellised

mark 17:19

you learn a lot about the science of Yeah. Of my, and I've, you were on the show once before and we talked a little bit about this. I remember my dad, who's a chemical engineer and loves the science of just about everything that he does. Uh, and he and George were talking about. Photosynthesizing, uh, sunlight into grape energy and how that, and I was gonna cry from the boredom there because George, I'll tell you, George gets a science geek going, he's and, and he gets all revved up and off he goes.

francis 19:16

Now you go out and do wine dinners a lot, and George does wine dinners occasionally throughout the country.

susan 19:21

You are the only wine dinner he is gonna do all year.

francis 19:23

Really?

susan 19:24

Yeah.

francis 19:24

That's a great compliment.

susan 19:25

Yeah,

mark 19:26

that is a huge compliment. Yeah.

francis 19:27

Do now, but you go out and do some, right?

susan 19:28

I do lots. Yeah.

francis 19:29

Now when, and we're the only one that George is doing. Hey, that's great.

susan 19:33

I know he's, he is only gonna do, um, he's very involved in a big cyclotron project this year, and he is only gonna be able to do three marketing trips

francis 19:42

of, because he's busy building a cyclotron. So once

mark 19:44

in a while you gotta build a nuclear cyclotron. You know what?

francis 19:48

As opposed to what kind of cyclotron mark the non-nuclear cyclotron. Now, mark, you just gave me the, like, what are you mocking me for, man now? Um, why would now, why would George Cotton and pick ours as opposed to other places to go? Because my question is, I've been to many wine dinners that are consumer driven events. Mm-hmm. And, and I've, I've been to ones where they just don't work where, where they don't pay enough attention to putting the food and wine together, or they, they don't have the frame of reference and things just don't fly. Do you find that often and when you do, how do you deal with it?

susan 20:21

Well, um, I do find it occasionally and how I deal with it is I just, uh, kind of roll with it.

mark 20:31

You're, you're a roll with it kind of lady though, Susan.

susan 20:33

Yeah. And you just, you do the best you can and, um, and, and enjoy it. And it's really meant to be, um, an enjoyable event for everyone involved and a real dining experience.

francis 20:47

Well, you know, one of the things I find about wine dinners that I really like, and, and everybody does'em now, we, we, we were among the first to do them in Jersey, but, but everybody does'em, and I think they're great. Even if they miss a little bit, they're great.

mark 20:58

Mm-hmm.

francis 20:59

But,

mark 21:00

and it's fun to see when they miss sometimes,

francis 21:01

but,

mark 21:02

you know, there's, that's a learning

francis 21:02

experience as long as it's somebody else's restaurant,

mark 21:04

as long as it's not our restaurant. Exactly.

francis 21:06

Um, but, but you know, when people buy wine in tastings, people buy one based on scores. They're not a great idea. Buy one from a recommendation from the sommelier local wine merchant. Better idea, especially if you know them and have a relationship with them. But buying wine in these tastings where you have the 12 different wines to taste and you buy what you taste, you often get home and say, you know, I don't like that as well as I thought it did, or That doesn't go as well with dinner. To really get to understand the wine you need to sit down and have it with food,

mark 21:33

right?

francis 21:33

Over time. It's not a contest. It's not. Put the wine in your mouth and spit it out and give it a score.

mark 21:38

One of the hardest things that, that we do in this profession is taste a lot of wines. Back to back, to back, to back, to back. It is a very, very difficult thing that we do because what we have to make assumptions about while we're tasting wine, and I think a lot of people do very poorly, what the assumptions you have to make are what's, what is this gonna taste like when somebody's sitting down and having dinner with this food? And how is it gonna be different from the, the two sips that I'm having right now in the middle of this, uh, you know, sometimes very cold room, uh, tasting wine.

francis 22:11

What are your thoughts on that, Susan? I mean, as far as the role of the wine dinner in, in learning about and buying wine?

susan 22:15

Well, I, I agree with everything you've said, that it is a time for people to be able to see the interaction of flavors between food and wine, and that's a very, interesting, complex and highly enjoyable experience. And I think the more people do it, the more they start thinking about it and start thinking about this, that wine is meant to pair with food, to make the dining experience more enjoyable for the wine to, um, um, show off the food and the food to show off the wine so that it becomes this very. Enjoyable marriage

francis 22:59

and, and when you go to professional wine events or when you go to think when people put things together, if, if you, if you find a combination that works like, oh, Chardonnay works with this, Pinot noir works with tuna. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. How interesting. That's what you put in your own memory bank for going forward to see wine and food put together by professionals. Even when it doesn't work, you can say, Ooh, that doesn't work. And try and figure out why it doesn't work. Mm-hmm. I think that's really, um, I think that's really one of the, one of the best and most interesting things you can do. It's

mark 23:24

certainly one of the most educational.

susan 23:26

And someone like George, um, who can comment during the dinner.

mark 23:30

Mm-hmm.

susan 23:31

Um, because he is a very, he's a serious student Yep. Of wine and food flavors.

mark 23:38

He's also a very straight shooter. He, he'll tell you what he thinks really works. He'll tell you what he thinks works less well. Mm-hmm. We, we spent some time actually before the last dinner with George making some last minute changes based on. On, you know, the wines and the food and, and some, some little accents that the chef had added at the last minute. If

francis 23:53

you have a restaurant out there, and we know we have a lot of restaurateurs that listen to the show, when you have a restaurant, the day of the wine dinner, if you can't do it in advance. Have the chef, or if you're a chef, cook all the food

mark 24:03

mm-hmm.

francis 24:04

Off that afternoon and check

mark 24:07

not all the food, one of each of the foods.

francis 24:08

Right. But, but check your assumptions and try the wine with the food. And you'll find that you often make last minute adjustments. You, you might say, oh my God, there's raw onion on that food. Mm-hmm. And that's with chardonnay. Get the raw onion outta there. Right. And these minor adjustments,

mark 24:21

a little chive garnish can wreck a food and wine match.

francis 24:24

And, and you don't wanna find that out. When, when you have 50 people in your dining room with plates in front of them, you wanna find that out in the afternoon. And often it's not a wholesale change you need to make, but you'll find something slightly off. And it's restaurants that do that that I think really go the extra mile and and can really do something interesting. Now, Susan, you own the Brookside Ranch, which is right next to the Hendry Ranch, and you actually operate up. Bed and breakfast out of there.

susan 24:48

That's right.

francis 24:49

That's, uh, that's, there aren't a lot of bed and breakfast like yours out there. Are there?

susan 24:53

I know many. Uh, many years ago, the county of Napa, um, discontinued, permitting, um. Um, bed and breakfast in the county, but we already had our permit, so we were grandfathered in.

francis 25:06

So how long have you been running the b and b out there?

susan 25:08

Oh my gosh. 18 years. Wow.

mark 25:11

Lemme tell you, because actually when, when Francis or I go to Napa, generally with Susan, is where we stay. Susan's bed and breakfast is three bedrooms. It's the cutest little most, it is my home away from home on the west coast. She's got, and, and Susan has her own, uh, wine and vineyard, which we haven't really talked about yet. Uh, but you, you're sitting on her vineyard in, in this magnificent little bed and breakfast. Susan is an. Awesome cook and always make sure that breakfast is special. It, it's just a, it is my favorite place to stay out there. And

francis 25:44

there's a library and a pool

mark 25:45

and a library and a

francis 25:46

pool and library has a leather chair. Um, so running the b and b, uh, uh, do you still do that? Do you always have guests still? Or is it is much more limited?

susan 25:56

We do. In fact, just before you called, I was, um, sectioning grapefruit and um, cutting up strawberries.

mark 26:04

Well, also when you go out there, Susan is a magnificent little cruise director. And always make sure that that Susan's a a little bit of a gossip. And, and we can, we can let that out there

francis 26:14

because I

mark 26:14

wanna

francis 26:15

know

mark 26:15

and Susan's in on every little new nuance of information

francis 26:19

that's going on. what's interesting that, that I found is, you really have your, finger on the pulse of the, of the markets out there and the farm markets and what's fresh and what's not. And to me, I understand because I'm from here, the, uh, the seasons of what's seasonal in, on the east coast in the northeast.

mark 26:32

Right.

francis 26:33

But it's interesting'cause I think we have this impression that everything always grows and everything's always available in Napa, but there's seasonal stuff out there as well, isn't

susan 26:40

it? Oh, yes, yes, yes. And, and we have farmer's markets that just deal with the seasonal things.

francis 26:45

And so how do the seasons work in California? I mean, it's always warm, right? So

susan 26:49

well, I'm speaking more of local here in Northern California.

francis 26:54

Mm-hmm.

susan 26:54

And, uh, it can be, we have cool winters and we don't have, fresh strawberries and nectarines and things like that from. This area.

mark 27:04

Mm-hmm.

susan 27:04

Now we can get them from Southern California, which, um, which

mark 27:09

is a lot closer than us getting them from Southern California.

susan 27:11

That's right. Yeah.

mark 27:12

Well, um, I,

susan 27:13

but I like to do the same thing. You know, we do the same things in the, in the winter, we like to have the root, the wonderful root vegetables. Mm-hmm. course we do have access to, um, things coming up from Southern California, but you still wanna have those things that you always think of as seasonal.

mark 27:31

Susan's also a great cheese connoisseur, so if she ever offers you a cheese plate, except

francis 27:35

I wanna ask you, Susan, about, um, about a very special product that's not available for sale Hendry. Blackberry Jam.

susan 27:42

Oh yeah. What's

francis 27:42

the story with that?

susan 27:44

That's our most allocated item.

mark 27:48

Just so you, I noticed

susan 27:49

you have that on the menu.

mark 27:50

Just so the public knows. Francis and I each get a jar every year for Christmas, and we have now allocated that jam to go specifically to this dinner. So to be used only in this dinner.

susan 28:01

I was wondering where that, where those, that jam was gonna come from.

francis 28:03

It was my Christmas present from you.

mark 28:06

Did you think you were gonna get a phone call today saying, and Susan will be FedExing us some jam tonight? Yeah.

susan 28:11

I had a big question mark next to it and I'm gonna say, oh, did we need to send some?

francis 28:15

So tell us. We're making it into Linda cookies for the dinner.'cause I thought that'd be poetic and sweet. Lovely. I get it.

mark 28:20

Sweet.

francis 28:20

Tell us about, tell us about this G. Where does it come from? Why is it so special? It's the best G I've ever had in my life.

susan 28:25

Yeah, there's a creek that runs through, uh, the,

mark 28:28

actually I believe George would say a creek,

susan 28:30

our property and George's property, and it's the Redwood Creek and it, um, is just lined with, uh, wild blackberry bushes.

francis 28:38

And you guys go out and pick'em yourselves

susan 28:39

and, well, we used to, but now we make so much of it. We need to have some of the guys on the ranch help us.

francis 28:45

Mm-hmm.

susan 28:45

So it's sort of a combined effort and we pick these wild blackberries and as much care goes into picking those blackberries as it goes into picking grapes

mark 28:54

and it shows.

susan 28:54

It

mark 28:55

does. It really does.

susan 28:55

You don't wanna get them overripe under Rippe. You want'em Right. When they're at the peak of flavor. And then we pick them and George and I for days, we put them through a China cap. Mm-hmm. So that we get all the seeds out and then we, um. Make jam

francis 29:12

and that's

susan 29:13

and George's all of the utensils that George, it's George's mother's recipe. All the utensils that she used when she made the jam, we weighed the fruit and the sugar on a scale that she weighed George on when he was a baby.

francis 29:31

That's great. Now, this stuff is not for sale, right?

susan 29:33

No, no, no, no.

francis 29:35

It just goes out as Christmas presents. That's

susan 29:36

right.

francis 29:37

And if you stay at your ranch, you can get it on your muffins. In the

susan 29:39

one I like to very special people,

francis 29:41

I'm feel I'm feeling right

29:42

now

mark 29:42

there. Right now there's 15 of Susan's customers listening, going, Hey, I never got any jam.

francis 29:47

So, so every year when we get, well, when we get the Christmas present, it arrives, markets a little box, and I get a little box from Henry and we're like, oh no, what? This is Mark. Okay. Walked over to my desk and grabbed it off my desk and said, we're saving that for the Henry Day. Well,

mark 29:58

cause last year we only used mine. Francis took, hasn't ate it.

francis 30:01

It was delicious. Uh, we're talking with Susan Ridley. She's partners with George Henry at the Henry Ranch, a great winemaker out in California. And we'll be talking more with her in just a moment. You know, last time I was out, at your ranch, uh, in California, Susan, we were sitting around, uh, having dinner with you, me and George, uh, and your husband and George's nephew. And as the coffee came out, the conversation turned. To the raging debate in the wine world about screw caps versus cork. And so many people are switching over to delvin closures or screw caps. Um, and we had a lively discussion about that for about, I don't know, three hours. Where do we stand on the screw cap idea?

susan 30:51

Well, we believe that it is a very good closure

francis 30:55

mm-hmm.

susan 30:56

For um, wines that are gonna be short-lived.

mark 31:00

Mm, mm-hmm.

susan 31:01

Like, um, our white wines, uh, particularly I think that's for sure white wines.

francis 31:07

Right?

mark 31:07

I, I think they're, that's for sure. Any wine that's gonna be drunk in, in three to four years I think is certainly.

susan 31:12

Yeah. Well,

francis 31:12

what about the Cabernets? What about the long aging wines?

susan 31:14

Well, that's, that's, that's the another thing. Apparently they're working on some, um, screw cap closures that will have permeability. A

francis 31:24

little bit of breathing going through

susan 31:25

the car. We'll be doing a little bit of breathing of course. the proof will be in the pudding, you know, when we really see if this does, work. There've been a couple very reputable producers who have been putting their cabernet and screw caps screw, and they. Um, it seems to be accepted, and I think it's probably accepted more by the wine community than it is by the general public, because I

mark 31:50

agree with that. Yeah, I think it's, it's, it's gonna be a slow movement. This isn't gonna happen all overnight.

susan 31:54

There is that, um, stigma of, uh, screw caps being, uh, used for inexpensive wine.

francis 32:02

Yeah. Well, and just so everyone knows, that's, that's, as more and more corks are infected and may ruin a small percentage of wines, there are more and more winemakers who are looking to go over into some different kind of a closure.

susan 32:11

Right?

francis 32:11

And you, well,'cause

mark 32:11

cork is, is rare and expensive and people have been. Using more and more of the plant, which causes more and more issues.

francis 32:19

So, so there's an issue and we'll, we'll see what Hend does with, with, with your wines overall. Hey Susan, thanks for coming to talk with us today.

susan 32:25

You're very welcome,

mark 32:25

Susan. It's always great to talk to you.

susan 32:27

Good to talk with you. And I'm sorry I'm gonna miss that dinner. It looks wonderful.

mark 32:30

Well, hopefully we'll come out this summer and we'll see you.

susan 32:33

Good

francis 32:33

and take care. Gotta stay at the Henry Ranch and visit George Henry's winery. It's incredible, incredible. Hope you've enjoyed the hour listening to the restaurant. Guys. I'm Francis Shot. And

mark 32:41

I'm Mark Pascal.

francis 32:42

We are the restaurant guys, central Jersey 1450. The time is 12 noon.