Let's celebrate the life of Bob Henrick with wine

[Jenise]

As this week ends, sadly so does the life of our dear friend Bob Henrick. If you've read Julia B's kind messages from Bob's son Bob Jr., you now know that our Bob is on life support, and disconnection will take place on Thursday which gives his extended family time to gather.

Most of us will not be able to attend the services. But we can create a virtual celebration of our friend's life with us. It would be so meaningful if all who had the pleasure of meeting him and all those like me who did not but nonetheless called him 'friend' joined together in opening a bottle in his memory this week and posted about it here. Julia can direct his family here so they can read about it.

I certainly will. I'm trying to think of which wine, though. When I think of Bob I think Tahbilk Marsanne. He was also a big Musar fan, wasn't he? What else? A short list of favorites from those of you who shared wine with him would be most helpful.

Great idea to post here. In fact I mentioned this on the other thread so will be opening a Tahbilk for sure. I hope that Bob`s family will be reading all our thoughts and memories of Mr. H eh.

Bob was always quick on the trigger to tweak me about my age...knowing full well he could match
me year for year.
So I'll open something "old".

Never met Bob in RealSpace. But I regarded him as a special friend in CyberSpace.
I, as we all, will miss him greatly.
Tom

[Jenise]

Something old! I just found a thread where Bob was talking about how he fell in love with Spanish wines when he was stationed there with the Air Force, and he named Marques de Riscal specifically--in fact, the 1925 vintage! I have a bunch of old Spanish wines, which included two '73 Riscals that I believe I already opened, but no matter, any of the others would be worthy. He was also a big fan of Pegau. I saw that he took a 2000 Pegau Cuvee Reservee to one of the MoCools.

Doing some research here, I too see Pegau mentioned from time to time.

Yes, Pegau it will be! Bob was part of the epic Pegau vertical at MoCool a few years back. He was one of the first people I met on this site, more than 20 years ago now. He's also the first one that told me about MoCool, even though it was in my own backyard! So I met him in person there, back in about '95 I think. He was even nicer in person that he was online - such a pleasant personality. I'm also going to dust off my guitar and play "Second Coming of Bacchus" at MoCool again this year in his honor - he always got a real kick out of that!

I'm sorry to hear this news. Although I have met very few of the people who post here, I feel that I know them well, so that a coming demise like Bob's feels like the loss of an old friend. No Tahbilk around here which is a pity because it would go down well with the short heat wave we are having. Too hot for Pegaü until the mercury tumbles.

[David M. Bueker]

Tim - find a Marsanne, any Marsanne!

I think we will drink a Story Teller red blend that I have had around for a while. I can't count the number of times Bob would say "I've got a little story about this wine..." at the various off-lines we attended together over the years. The stories were always interesting, rarely linear and NEVER little. Not sure what one of his "big stories" would be like.

OMG! Sam! Those are his exact words!! That really brought a smile and a tear , I can hear him now!

I had the pleasure of meeting Bob H. only once (with Robin, in Louisville), but we corresponded afterwards, both on and off the boards. He was a gentle soul.

I believe (or maybe I want to believe, but I think it's so) that I instigated his love affair with Tahbilk Marsanne. The company I was with imported it for a few years. Never really got traction, and the company wanted volume brands, of which Tahbilk was never one or going to be one; they tried a stable of smaller, select brands but never got good at it so the agreement was dissolved. That's when I yammered about it on the site and Bob got some and swooned.

We tried (and Bob actually militated a bit, contacting Alastair Purbrick, the owner) to salvage the brand for the US, and Bartholomew Broadbent picked it up. After a few years, he gave up; by then the Tahbilk wines had gotten prohibitively expensive, so the brand, again, failed to sustain itself in the US. Purbrick eventually shipped the remaining US supply back to Australia...and still made a profit from it.

Alas and alack, Bob finally ran out of Tahbilk Marsanne. So did I. And he felt, as did I, that there was not another Marsane like it. But I do have one or two bottles of old vintages of Syrah and Cabernet, so I'll have to broach one for Bob. He'd like that.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bob H. only once (with Robin, in Louisville)...

That's exactly what came to mind for me too, Hoke. I was at that event and relatively new to the wine world at the time. The venue was Fat Cats or one of its later reincarnations, and it had a wine list of some distinction. I remember Bob H.'s face lit up when he saw Ch. Musar on the list, and we shared a bottle. He introduced me to the wine, so that's what I'll be opening in his honor.

On another thread about Bob I mentioned his enthusiasm for the Stone Wolf Vineyard wines and Linda Lindsay. I don't have any Stone Wolf wines but will open another Oregon Pinot Noir this weekend and write a note on it. Julia, perhaps someone should notify Ms. Lindsay about Bob's approaching demise.

I opened a 1998 Pegau Res. this evening at a euchre dinner and a toast to Bob. I was the only one there that knew him but everyone was interested in how I knew him. The wine was just very fine with lots of life ahead, as I'm sure Bob would agree, but it gave us a moment to pause and contemplate our own mortality. As I said previously, I will miss him dearly as I'm sure many of the MoCoolers will too.

Wandered in here to lurk and maybe say hello, only to read this sad news
All my thoughts for his family!

[Jenise]

Shaji, good to see you.

I've decided to open a 70's Rioja and make a paella in honor of the origins of Bob's wine epiphany. This will be tomorrow night, day of. This is how I pray.

Has to be a Marsanne, will be quite a decision which one but think Bob will like my choice.

[Jenise]

I know what you mean, Bob. If I had a 100% marsanne in my cellar, I'd have chosen that. Glad you do!

I was going to open an ESJ in honor of Bob this weekend as I didn't have any 100% Marsanne. But just realized I do have a Rotie Cellars Northern White, so I'll open both to toast him.

May Bob find himself in the “Big Wine Cellar” in the sky!

My condolences to Bob’s family.

“Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine.”-Thomas Aquinas.

Salute

[Jenise]

I was going to open an ESJ in honor of Bob this weekend as I didn't have any 100% Marsanne. But just realized I do have a Rotie Cellars Northern White, so I'll open both to toast him.

Nice choice. Rotie's a great producer.

I was going to open an ESJ in honor of Bob this weekend as I didn't have any 100% Marsanne. But just realized I do have a Rotie Cellars Northern White, so I'll open both to toast him.

Nice choice. Rotie's a great producer.

One of my favorites from Walla Walla.

I think that I should open one of my bottles of white Herrmitage from J-L Chave (80% Marsanne, I believe) in Bob's honour. In spite of the adulation that these wines receive, I have never been convinced so I rarely open one (last time over 10 years ago). If I see the light, it will be a gift from Bob.

I just picked up a '95 Chave white from my storage locker, to open this evening, to say goodbye to Bob, and clicked on this forum to write this note, discovering, on doing so, Tim's note. Nice to think that these ideas have a life of their own, and can mingle with us so easily.
There was a Chave white I had 10 or 12 years ago that reminded me why I got involved with wine in the first place, and I can't think of a more appropriate way to toast the connection to a friend who's left this world. I'll cherish each sip.