Heidi Schröck has always been regarded with affection by anyone who had the pleasure of meeting her. She’s one of those folks who have thirty people, each of whom is certain (s)he’s her best friend.
The arrival of her sons to carry on the winery was by no means a foregone conclusion. Nor was there any reason to assume they would be talented and sagacious. I’m fond of all of them and each of them individually, but the wines would be…the wines.
So when I visited back in April after a 4 -year interval I was effectively seeing the 2.0 version of the winery. Heidi knows I won’t flatter, because she has a right to trust that my affection doesn’t obscure my judgments of the wines. We tasted the range in the morning after a day just hanging out, and by the time the third or fourth wine was poured, it was clear to me that a remarkable synergy was at work.
It was the best group of wines I’d ever tasted there. (I even loved the PetNat, which alas wasn’t included with the samples I’m tasting now.) But not only were the wines good; they were good without altering the personality of the domain. Think of it this way: it was the same person but with a new haircut and snazzy clothes, but as soon as she started speaking it was like there’s the friend I love.