 |
|||||||||
|
Holly and Family
Carrie Bendick (Cooper), winemaker "I love living and working within the vineyard; seeing the full transformation of grapes to wine." Carrie appreciates the long history of winemaking and uses traditional winemaking techniques choosing not to over-manipulate the grapes. In this way, the varietal flavor of each grape comes through in the finished wine. Working in a small family winery allows her to oversee every aspect of the winemaking, beginning with the treatment of the grapes in the vineyards. Quality grapes are key to great wine and Bendick feels fortunate to be able to work with the highest quality El Dorado fruit. This hands-on aspect of winemaking is what attracted her to the wine industry. Carrie grew up in Davis and after completing a BA in Romance Linguistics at the University of Washington and exploring other career paths, she turned her attention to wine. She began working and learning under a winemaker in El Dorado, the same area where her parents had planted their vineyard. Together, they created Holly's Hill Vineyards, focusing on Rhone-style wines. Shortly after moving to the area, Carrie met her husband, Josh Bendick, who was also in the wine industry and who has become the Director of Marketing and Sales at Holly's Hill. They have a daughter turning Holly's Hill into a multigenerational affair. Bendick has traveled to the Rhone wine region of France to learn more about her craft from long time producers. The region is significant to her because the estate vineyard is planted exclusively to varieties that originate from the Rhone Valley. Carrie continues to educate herself with UC Davis extension courses in viticulture and winemaking and through communication with other California Rhone producers. Motherhood occupies most of her time outside of the winery, but Carrie still enjoys running and reading, and every now and then, sea kayaking or mountain biking.
Josh Bendick, winemaker "I always tell people I'm fortunate to never have had a 'real job.' I do what I love and I am able to keep learning as I go, while working all facets of the business." You wouldn't know it with a last name like Bendick, but Josh has Italian ancestry on his mother's side. It's from this lineage that his infatuation with wine was born. Wine was always served to the kids at family gatherings in small port sized glasses while the adults had standard sized glasses. He even remembers his mother trying to make wine under the sink from table grapes growing in the backyard. It was natural that he would take an introductory winemaking course at UC Davis while studying for a degree in International Economic Relations. He enjoyed the class, finding it a breath of fresh air and felt he had finally found his calling. He ended up taking courses in viticulture (grape growing) in between politics and economics classes to satiate his desire for wine knowledge. He then began fermenting everything in sight. Nothing was safe--apples, blueberries, strawberries…and grapes too! In fact, he was making wine before he was twenty-one. It wasn't until this time that Josh learned his Great Grandfather Alloro also made wine. While still in school Bendick's first experience with a commercial winery was at Winters Winery where he had extensive first hand education in both siphoning and sanitation. After graduation, and a couple home winemaking vintages of UC Davis Cabernet grapes, he got a job on the weekends at Boeger Winery in the tasting room. It was at this time when he met his wife and current boss, Carrie Bendick. He was pouring for Boeger and she for Windwalker at the Amador County fair wine tasting. A mutual friend introduced them to each other and they were married seven months later. She was at the time just starting a new venture with her parents Tom and Holly Cooper named Holly's Hill Vineyards. Shortly after being married he took a job at Perry Creek Vineyards as Assistant Winemaker feeling as though he had to do more than just talk about and sell wine. About a year later Josh was hired at Holly's Hill to run the tasting room. The job expanded to include local sales, marketing, as well as helping in the cellar. "I'm excited to be a part of a successful and growing business that focuses on quality and varietals that I like to drink. My accomplishments have come in the form of mentions by the media and good ratings by wine writers. As the winery's representative to the El Dorado Winery Association, I feel I'm also able to help the entire region grow by actively working with the public relations committee and making regional based decisions not just winery based decisions. I want to see El Dorado on the international wine map. The foothills have a great potential as a wine growing region, especially with Rhone varieties." Josh currently sits on the board of the Rhone Rangers. Hobbies: Sea kayaking, mountain biking, cooking, listening to and playing music, wood working, basket ball, watching movies, and making wine.
Marin, Isabel and Esme Bendick (4, 2, 1 month)
|
|||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
||||
 |
|||||||||
|
home | on the hill | our wines | holly and family | visit us | club | events | recipes | kudos | contact us |
|||||||||
