2006 Verdelho Elegante: The Verdelho grape is a sweet white wine grape most often associated with Portugal and rarely grown in our region. Truth be told, you really have to know what you are doing to effectively make this wine and I must admit I was blown away by this bottle. I called my wife from across the house and made her try it and she was equally if not more so impressed. The wine presents a vibrant feel on the tongue, bordering on carbonation and a fantastically light, sweet flavor. The sweetness comes from bright fruit flavors derived from pear, apricot, apple and peach flavors. While the wine is not as sweet as a dessert wine, it seemed to have a two glass limit for my pallet. An excellent, light, sweet white wine, perfect for warmer weather.
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| Rob Williams - Cabernets and Blends | ||
Rob's "Wine of the Week" Archives So here is my wine review for the week of May 26th... A PROFILE OF THE E2 FAMILY WINERY
Description: Weeks ago I received a variety of wines and a nice accompanying note from Brett and Elishia Ehlers, sibling co-owners of the E2 (I presume it’s pronounced E Squared) family winery. They are loyal members of the RAD listening family and I decided to dedicate memorial Day weekend to giving their wines a try. How and when I drank it: Over the course of Memorial day weekend at my house
2005 Sangiovese: A lot of people try at Sangiovese and few succeed. Brought to California in the late 1800’s by Tuscan immigrants, the grape does very well in hot, dry climates like Lodi (where E2 grows their grapes) but often suffers from being Cabernet Sauvignon’s younger, less talented brother. This particular bottle of Sangiovese is somewhere between just fine and good as it produces the standard fruit flavors of violet and blueberry and has a medium body with an adequate finish. It is not, by any means a bad wine, there just isn’t much there there. If you like softer merlots, this is a great bottle to try. Personally, I’d rather drink a merlot (one of my personal favorites) but I wouldn’t refuse this wine, either. For me, it’s good, not great.  2003 Delta Classic Cabernet: If you visit the E2 website, you’ll see that they are very proud of this wine. Making great cabernet in California is not an easy task, when compared to the hundreds of bottle of competition. This is THE cab capitol of the world and you are truly playing with the big boys when you produce a cab, regardless of your price point. One thing I have noticed with cabs from the Lodi/Foothills/El Dorado region is a distinct dark/earth finish. On the rare occasion I have found a cab I enjoyed from there, (McManis made an amazing 2001 cab, for example) the dark finish has been softened with a smoky/vanilla flavor which this bottle has. At first taste, I found the finish to be slightly tangy, but that dissipated with some breathing. Once the wine had been opened for 90 minutes I tried it again and enjoyed it. This is not a big, Napa style cab but it is a very pleasant, smooth, full bodied cab that has a unique texture and taste to it that any California Cab drinker would enjoy as a respite from the almost formulaic tone of great Napa cabs. At only $13.99 per bottle this is a great wine to serve on a Wednesday night when a $100 Napa cab feels extravagant.Overall Score: I can honestly say that I am impressed and the Verdelho is the hands down leader. The cab is very good for the price and makes me want to try their merlot as well. I can easily recommend scooping up some Verdelho for the long, hot summer ahead and at least trying out their cab as a weeknight wine here and there (let it breathe first thought)! Their website is impressive and this is a winery to watch, not just because they are loyal RAD listeners, but because they clearly have a talent for wine making. VERDELHO = SANGIOVESE = DELTA CAB = |
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