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.

Of course, for participants, it is fun. For the wine maker, it is very precise and nerve-jangling work. So Rudy Zuidema, the winemaker at Ehlers Estate, had the task of figuring the exact measurements of each block to add to the blend. I have not yet met or interviewed him, but I can imagine that the process took into account several factors, among them market research, to determine what kind of aroma, taste, and mouthfeel the target audience for California Sauvignon Blanc wine buyers wanted in their wine at a particular price point.

So, you might ask, is the wine a success? I like it. Now that I am tasting so many California wines side by side by their New Zealand and other counterparts, I can see a California profile begin to emerge. The fruit seems much riper, and acid, while refreshing, is not as high as in some cooler climate regions. Instead of tangy citrus fruit (grapefruits, lemons, limes) I’m sensing a lot of stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, apricots). The fruit is ripe and sweetly scented, yet not at the over-ripe state where it is soft to the touch.

If you are curious to learn more, invest in a bottle and do some research of your own. See if you can sense if this is a blend of two vineyards. Then, relax and just have fun. After all, that’s what wine education is all about.
P.S.
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