Whatever happened to Behrens & Hitchcock?
I seem to remember 15-20 years ago that they were a pretty well regarded winery in the Parker camp.
Seem to remember really enjoying some of their oddly named bottlings. I realize their style isn’t for the AFWE.
Now I don’t think I ever hear them mentioned.
Was it the neocorks? (Edit)
Or, whatever brand fake corks they were using.
I think it was more the bottled biology experiments.
Many of the wines were terribly unstable. B&H is gone. Behrens and Drinkward now own and run Behrens Family Winery.
Every single bottle with those corks that I opened (probably at least 6-12 bottles) was undrinkable. Soupy, alcoholic, worse than flawed. I don’t really care whether it was the corks or the wine style (I can’t imagine that’s how it’s supposed to be…), it’s the kind of thing I will never forgive.
Ouch. Is that instability an issue with certain vintages, or an era, or is it a generic problem for all their older wines?
I’ll never know for sure as the one bottle I bought was made with some breakable glass (who knew?) and stained the floor of my cellar so bad I moved out of state! Thought that might have been so to a job change come to think of it…
Last year I got 2 bottles of '97 B&H Syrah as part of a mixed lot (I think with some ESJ*)
First bottle: 1997 Behrens and Hitchcock Syrah. Zero expectations for this, as I knew it had a plastic cork and the late 90s B&H wines were dying 10 years ago. Surprise, surprise. No oxidation, fruit is plentiful. However, sweet/surmaturite notes, some heat, not my style. But better than I expected. B-/C+
Second 1997 Behrens and Hitchcock Syrah. This was never a great wine, but the plastic cork failed in its simple task this time. Oxidized, game for the vinegar crock. C- for this bottle
I wasn’t upset, I probably added $5/per to my bid for these.
*I realize that auction houses put together mixed lots with bottles that they fear won’t sell on their own, and that passed lots are their biggest fear. But it always puzzles me when they do mixes like this or one I remember last year for Martinelli & Kalin PNs, where it seems like most fans of one wine are unlikely to like the other.
I know the 2002s and 2003s are totally shot. I think 2001 too, but I could be wrong.
I had 2009 Spare Me not all that long ago, and it was so sweet. Couldn’t drink it, plus the alcohol was starting to show.
They bottle stuff under Erna Schein too (Les Behren’s mothers name.)
Bad corks led to bad bottles led to no customers.
the neo cork period was a bad one, but they have come back very strong. They have some very tasty “large” wines with fun labels and stories these days. They also opened a tasting salon in St. Helena…the old Karl Lawrence site at the south end of town near Dr. Crane. If you have the time, would recommend a visit to see what they are up to these days. Robin is a great hostess.
I bought those wines on Parker’s recommendation back in the day (around the 1997-98 vintages). The wines were usually horrible, as was his advice. His heralding of these wines and other hot messes (like the blueberry vanilla milkshakes from Oz that he trumpeted) destroyed any value I may have previously placed on his viewpoint. Which ultimately was a good thing, cause I found my own palate way sooner than I might otherwise have.
For giggles I looked on WS to see what the wines were going for. You can buy from HDH in Chicago a 1997 B&H Kenefick Ranch Cab for $85…a magnum.
I had early bottles of these wines and they were all supremecork, not neocork. Did they switch or do people just call all plastic corks neocork which is really a brand name?
This was my experience as well. Although to be fair I suppose we can’t blame Parker for the purple corks.
Bad corks, bad wine, bad people. Good riddance.
In addition to the cork issues, I found what seemed like some fairly high VA levels in more than a few of their wines. Not my cuppa.
Bruce
We had a few Behrens along with a few DP’s at a dinner with Lisa and Less. I can’t speak to B/H but the Behrens Family was very good especially if you like wines in a more full bodied style. They are also great folks and a hoot to hang with.
cheers
I bought a couple of 1999ish wines of theirs on Winebid several years ago, just fishing around for bargain drinkers, and before I had heard anything about the corks or the producer. They were undrinkable nail polish. I only paid $20-25 each for them, so it wasn’t too crushing, but lesson learned.
I believe I have only had a few different B&H wines - the 1997 and 1999 Napa Merlot and 1997 Bancroft Ranch Merlot. The 1999 was nothing memorable, but was purchased at auction and consumed in 2010. The 1997’s were really good! I purchased one on release and it was so good, I bought a few more at auction which were all good except for maybe the last that was consumed in 2014 that had some VA.
Interestingly, B&H wines were readily available in London in the early 2000’s
I hear everyone on the problem with the corks, and maybe some don’t like the style, or the way they’ve aged, but why are they ‘bad people’ ?
I think the last time I had B&H must have been the 97’s and/or 01’s - Kenefick, InkGrade maybe some others.
Thought they were ok, but that was in their youth, and had forgotten all about them.
Based on the chatter here, I don’t think I’ll take a chance on any older ones.
Having drank ~100 different bottles from them over the last 15 years, I’ve realized that when Les Behrens said he made his wines to be enjoyed young he probably meant within 5 years after release. Most were over 15% abv and weren’t made to age gracefully. On the flip side, they were delicious and fun in their youth which is probably what caught Mr. Parker’s attention. The plastic corks didn’t hold up beyond 3-4 years and I lost a few by waiting too long. The wines are usually pricey and lose value like quicker than new cars, but are very enjoyable so I keep buying them. To each their own 