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Taste of Success
By Karl Henkel
ELLSWORTH
Bill Hendricks built his first home at the young age of 23.
He had a wine cellar, but for the home’s first 15 years, it went untouched.
“I had no idea how to make wine,” Hendricks said.
But after an old friend suggested he try, Hendricks decided to give it a shot.
He bought some books on the subject.
Then he took a few chemistry courses at Youngstown State University.
And soon, he began taking classes at the University of California at Davis’ school of Viticulture & Enology.
What did he get himself into?
Hendricks’ spur-of-the- moment decision has morphed into a passion, one he shares with his business partner, Lorie Lippiatt, that comes full circle today with the launch of their ultra-premium Napa Valley Chardonnay, a 2010 vintage, aged wine.
The wine is now bottled in the heart of California, but it has a definite Mahoning Valley connection.
Hendricks, from Ellsworth, is president of Professional Engine System Inc. in Canfield, which makes backup generators and other machinery for the oil and gas industry.
Lippiatt is president of Salem Eyecare Center Inc.
The two met, not coincidentally, at a local wine tasting.
“We kind of built from there,” Hendricks said. “We both have the same taste for wine, and we’re both perfectionists.”
The two decided to jump into a wine endeavor, creating BLT Wine LLC. The first wine, by the way, Lucy Goose Wine, is named after Lippiatt’s dog, Lucy, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness last fall.
The latest wine initially will be available through New York-based Lot18, which markets high-end wines.
The process of connecting with the company is a story in itself.
After someone from the company tried the wine, Hendricks got a call two days later from Lot18 wanting to market it.
“It made my day,” he said. “I thought it was Lorie doing a prank phone call. I didn’t even know it was real until we got the contract in the mail.”
But are consumers willing to buy wine — which they’ve never tried — online?
Hendricks says yes.
“The wine industry has changed,” he said. “Online wine selling is increasing and increasing.”
The target demographic now, Hendricks said, is the age 21 to 35 generation.
In other words, wine has skipped a generation.
“Wine is generational,” he said. “You don’t want to drink what your father drank, because he wasn’t cool when it came to that.”
In keeping with the generational aspect, Lucy Goose bottles will come with QR codes so consumers can learn more about the wine in each bottle, something Hendricks says will be helpful once the wine hits store shelves and restaurants.
The journey for Henricks and Lippiatt won’t end there.
They said they’ll also have a Chardonnay reserve out in time for Christmas.