Red
2018 Cuveé Ellen, SyrahUS$38.00
The Cuvée Ellen label, a tribute to my grandmother Ellen is made from fruit grown here in Glen Ellen. The first Ellen Syrah was made in 2007, also with more restrained Syrah components, and that blend continues to show well today. This is a lovely wine that can be enjoyed now but should continue to improve for another 5-8 years. This wine is medium bodied, elegant and with lots of cherry fruit flavors and spice and will be at its best with food. I think this wine will improve for another 5-8 years but provides excellent drinking now.
White
Dessert
2017 PortUS$30.00
The new Ruby Port carries on a 15-year line of balanced and not too sweet dessert wines made by the Estate Syrah. The addition of grape alcohol has left the wine with enough residual sugar to accompany a dessert or cheese course, but without being too sweet or heavy. Good now and for 3-4 weeks after opening, or for 10+ years in the cellar.
Década, Tawny PortUS$40.00
Making a tawny style dessert wine is not for those that want quick financial gain. Holding inventory in a barrel for many years while it slowly evaporates just doesn't make financial sense. So I had to love the expression I heard in Portugal that "the first 200 years in business were the hardest!" What the patient get, though, is the concentration and change of flavors that only time can give. These flavors start as berry and fruit notes of the young wine, to dried fig and apricot, to finally caramel notes and at the same time there is a concentration as the wine evaporates. This is accompanied by a color change from the deep ruby of young wine to the rich mellow brown note of the Tawny – the same oxidation we see in a cut apple. The grapes are grown here around the winery and the wine aged for 10 years in an older French oak barrel. This barrel is topped up once a year to replace the "Angel's Share" that evaporates from the barrel through the wood and the topping wine is from a solera that was started in 2009. Consequently, it is not a true single vintage tawny, but is about 90% from 10 year old material. Just 1 barrel of wine is put aside for this program each year when the vintage style wine is bottled and this one was made in 2009. Rich and concentrated, with a finish that lasts for minutes, it is best consumed after dinner by itself, or possibly with blue cheese or a sharp cheddar. Taste this while contemplating what you were doing 10 years ago when this wine was made! Once opened it will slowly improve for several days and then remain unchanged for 6 weeks.
Additional Wines Available for Purchase
2021 LRWUS$35.00
A Pinot-Syrah blend providing a lighter red wine (hence LRW) that shows like Pinot in aroma and flavor with the Syrah only becoming apparent by adding more to the finish. An excellent wine to have with salmon, chicken, and lighter dishes. I expect that it will be at its best this Summer and for another 5 years or so and I think it will build in flavor over time.
2018 Estate SyrahUS$38.00
The estate Syrah has shown that it deserves to be bottled separately. The wine is a shade more elegant than the ’17 version and has such lovely balance that makes it one of my favorite wines from that vintage. Ready to drink now but with the ability to continue to improve for another 5-8 years.