In Memoriam: Henry Wendt, Quivira Winery Founder & Map Collector

Henry Wendt, who founded the Quivira winery out West Dry Creek with his wife Holly, passed away last month. Henry was known for his extensive collection of maps, many of which he displayed at his tasting room; in fact, he named winery “Quivira” because that’s what one of his old European maps had labeled the Sonoma County region. In 2004 and 2010, the Sonoma County Museum reportedly curated two exhibits of antique maps from the Wendt collection: “Mapping the Pacific Coast,” then “Envisioning the World: The First Printed Maps, 1472-1700.” Henry was 90 years old when he died. He grew up on Long Island, where legend has it he would ride his Appaloosa horse, “Smoky,” bareback after school. Then, according to his obituary, Henry went to Princeton and spent around four decades as a bigwig at pharmaceutical companies and health-care investment firms — at one point authoring a book called “Global Embrace: Corporate Challenges in a Transnational World,” according to his obituary. Amid all of that, in the early 1980s, Henry and his wife Holly moved here to Healdsburg, where they lived for a very impactful 20 years or so. From his obituary: “Mr. Wendt served multiple terms as Chairman of the Community Foundation of Sonoma County. In 2007, he was awarded the Wetzel Community Leadership Award for “his leadership in making the Healdsburg District Hospital campaign a success, as well as his superb guidance and experience to help the Foundation expand its resources and reach. Through the Foundation of Sonoma County, he and his wife contributed $100,000 to the Healdsburg High School Library, allowing for significant modernization of the facility which is now named after the Wendt couple. In later years he made large contributions to various environmental causes, helping set aside large tracts of land from further development.” At Quivira in rural Healdsburg, in particular, he launched a restoration project for Wine Creek, “the Coho salmon and Steelhead trout spawning stream that winds through the center of the estate,” according to the winery’s website. (Source: Legacy.com & Quivira & North Bay Biz & Amazon)