So I’ve just opened a bottle of Ehlers Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2007 and inhale the delicate aroma of ripe, yet still firm, peaches and apricots. This aroma carries through to the palate, which has a fuller body than many Sauvignon Blancs because of its aging for three months in neutral French oak. Yet there is something else …
What can it be?
Most wine drinkers don’t really think about soil when they sip wine. In fact, if you are able to recognize a varietal such as Sauvignon Blanc, as opposed to any other white varietal, you are way ahead of the game. Yet as you delve deeper into the world of wine, you will discover that soil has a tremendous amount to do with what is going on in the glass.
Soil, of course, is a small component of the myriad of elements that go on in a wine. Yet in researching Ehlers Estate, I find that what is unique about this wine, and what may be giving it its more robust texture, is that the grapes were grown on two distinct blocks of land in the vineyard. The Sauvignon Blanc cultivated on a richer, loamy clay block produces the weight and texture many will detect in this wine, as well as the peach flavors. Grapes grown on the extremely gravelly block of the vineyard yield the intense aromatics (peach again, apricot, tangerine, and minerals).
Blending two blocks of differing soil in the same vineyard together is nothing new. Old world winemakers have been doing this for centuries for a variety of reasons. If you are ever fortunate enough to take a wine class in which you create your own Bordeaux wine (using a syringe-type object and in mad scientist fashion, combining the five classic varietals of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec into your personalized blend), you will understand the process.
Article comments