Ehlers Estate

This once beleaguered winery that suffered under absentee ownership, questionable management, and revolving door winemakers, seemingly has finally gotten its stuff together. With the addition a couple of years ago of winemaker Rudy Zuidema and a new and apparently competent front office team, Ehlers now has to be taken seriously.

And with this 2003 Cabernet, I think the winery has a winner. There’s sandlewood, black cherry and stewed fruit notes in the nose, while the palette exhibits a warm and fuzzy feel with some bittersweet chocolate (I’d say it’s about at a 60% cocoa quotient), and interesting complexity from earth and tar. The wine has great balance and fills the mouth with goodness. Hold onto it for a year and then watch it mature over a 20-year period.

The vineyard was farmed organically as well as biodynamically. The fruit was picked at 24.9 brix, 70% new French oak was used for 20 months, and 700 cases were produced.

With everything finally in place here, just to the east of Highway 29 and a couple of miles north of downtown St. Helena, Ehlers looks as if it’s become a player.

Reviewed July 3, 2006 by Alan Goldfarb.