2022 Ehret Family Winery – Sauvignon Blanc
The Winery
Picture from Ehret Family website
The Ehret Family Winery owners are Pierre and Susan Ehret with their three children Alex, Christian and Isabella. They established the vineyard and started producing grapes in 1996 at the Bavarian Lion Vineyards. It is one of the largest estates in Knights Valley consisting of 1800 acres of both hillside and valley floor terrain. Currently 500 acres are planted in vineyards allowing the balance to provide an ecosystem for plants and birdlife to dwell. From 1996 they sold their fruit to some of the more well-known wineries throughout Napa and Sonoma counties. In 2005, they selected the highest quality grapes and started their family brand, Ehret Family Winery. Today they produce various Cabernet Sauvignon’s, Red Blends, Zinfandel, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc wines. Their tasting room is located in Healdsburg at 422 Healdsburg Ave and appointments are required.
Geography of Knights Valley and Bavarian Lion Vineyards
Knights Valley is located in Northern Sonoma County between Alexander Valley and over the Napa Valley border next to Calistoga.
Map courtesy of Vintroux https://vineyardandwinerysales.com/
Below is a picture of the Ehret Bavarian Lion Vineyards in Knights Valley.
Picture of a portion of Bavarian Lion Vineyard from their website
The winemaker is Erin Green who has been there since 2015. Previously Erin has had experience at Sonoma-Cutrer, Vinewood Cellars and Napa Wine Company. She has also blended wines for various premium projects such as Bryant Family, Colgin Cellars, Martinelli Winery and Pahlmeyer. From 2000-2012 Erin was the winemaker and Director of Winegrowing at Pahlmeyer.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This was my first experience tasting an Ehret Family wine. I chose this one based on the meal (see below) and was very intrigued and impressed with the wine. They use a low temperature tactic in their words “to enhance and concentrate the fruit expression”. The fruit is from the warmest AVA in Sonoma County with the vineyards ranging from 400-800 feet in elevation. The soil is very gravelly with sandy loams mixed with sedimentary and basic rock. This topography provides a well-draining vineyard.
First on the eyes this was paler than most Sauvignon Blancs of recent reviews. But the light coloring produced a flavorful wine. On the nose a clear aroma of mandarin wafted into the senses. On the palate a truly “old world style” of Sauvignon Blanc proceeded to enliven the experience of this wine. Lively acidity and flavors of honeydew melon with soft grapefruit notes covered the corners of the mouth. The finish was clean and long with minerality appearing at the crest of the experience. Often Sauvignon Blanc’s slap you upside the head with tremendous citrus note and mouth puckering acidity. Now that type of wine is great with certain foods as all wines have a designated partner! This wine with a softer profile with a more delicate touch provided a wonderful and mouth filling experience.
The wine is listed at $42/bottle on their website and recently won Gold and 92 Points at the 2022 Sunset Magazine International Wine Competition. It recently won BEST of Class at the 2024 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. It comes in at 14.8% alcohol.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This wine was chosen to go with a chicken breast butterflied with Pico de Gallo and corn. Some spices were added before baking the chicken. Accompanying the chicken and corn was also a chopped Southwestern style salad.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Three wines were suggested with this meal were: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. This Sauvignon Blanc with its minerality and fruit provide just the right amount of softness to caress this meal. A very good food and wine pairing with the 2022 Ehret Family Winery Sauvignon Blanc.
Sláinte,
Michael
https://californiawinesandwineries.com
https://ehretwinery.com/