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Mission Codename: Pride of the Lion

Operative: Agent White

Objective: Revisit our friends at Ehret Family Winery and acquire their delicious 2006 Hillside Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Ehret Family Winery

Wine Subject: 2006 Hillside Reserve Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker: Nick Goldschmidt

*_Backgrounder*_:

The Ehret Family Winery produces small, specialty lot’s of handcrafted wines from their renowned Bavarian Lion vineyard. The vineyard is also a prized source of fruit for a very select group of wineries that also make award-winning wines from the extraordinary fruit grown there.

Regional Backgrounder:

Sonoma County’s Knight’s Valley sits at the easternmost edge of the County, far from the cooling of the Pacific Ocean. The fact that this high benchland AVA (American Viticultural Area) gets so much hot sun during the growing season makes it the perfect region for growing richly extracted Bordeaux varietals.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Deep and dark burgundy-purple with dense color that extends all the way to the very edge of the glass where slight violet hues emerge. This wine has a dark but clear core and springy surface and when swirled clusters of slow thin legs creep down the side of the glass to the wine below.

Smell – Bold in intensity, but initially a little tight (give this wine at least 30 minutes to expose itself to you), but once it opens up rich aromas of dark fruit, spice, black licorice and oak are layered over hints of floral violets, classic Cabernet herbal components and a touch of vanilla caramel.

Feel – With excellent weight, this full-bodied wine is expansive on the palate with mouth coating textured tannins and medium, but well balanced acidity and lingering dark minerals that make their appearance in both flavor and into the finish.

Taste – Bold and rich with flavors of cassis, blackberry, ripe plum and other dark fruit meld with mild black licorice, vanilla bean and oak notes. Savory spice and subtle hints of leather and tobacco emerge and adds complexity.

Finish – Extremely long with notes of black fruit, licorice and oak that fade gently and leave behind this wines excellent tannins and minerality hold tight and lingers for several minutes.

Conclusion – The 2006 Ehret Family Winery Hillside Reserve Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a bold, rich and delicious Cabernet with all the classic aromas and flavors you’d expect. Add to this a fantastic structure that grabs you and holds tight.. Enjoy the ride as this wine’s expansiveness lingers long into the finish and begs for another sip.

Mission Report:

WINEMAKER INTEL BRIEFING DOSSIER

SUBJECT: Nick Goldschmidt

DATE OF BIRTH: April, 1962

WINEMAKER BIO: Born and educated in New Zealand, Nick Goldschmidt’s career began in 1982 with a research position at the New Zealand Lincoln University where he graduated with Distinction in Horticulture. Nick went on to specialize in viticulture studies at Wagga Wagga, and oenology at the highly acclaimed Roseworthy program, at Adelaide University in South Australia. During his time as a student Nick worked at noted wineries such as Kumeu River, Coopers Creek and Babich. In 1989, after 18 months of winemaking in Australia, New Zealand, California, and South America; including his first harvest in Chile as winemaker for Calitera, Nick returned to California with an amazing range of winemaking experiences.

In 1990, Nick and his wife Yolyn settled down in Healdsburg, California, as Simi’s Associate Winemaker. Nick was promoted to Chief Winemaker 1991 and became Vice President and Chief Winemaker in 1996. Nick spent a total of 13 years at Simi and was one of the driving forces that brought the Simi Reserve Cabernet program to notoriety. In May of 2003 Nick accepted the position of Executive Vice President and Winemaker at Allied Domecq Wines USA. During recent acquisitions Nick has been named Vice President and Executive

Domestic Winemaker for Beam Estates wine portfolio – As winemaker for Beam estates, Nick oversees the production of Clos Du Bois, Buena Vista, Haywood, Garcia, Atlas Peak, William Hill, Gary Farrell and Jakes Fault. In the global arena his work takes him to Mexico, Spain, Argentina and New Zealand where he is involved with blends being imported into the domestic market as well as several domestic brands that are being exported into other global markets.

In 1998 Nick and Yolyn Goldschmidt, established their own line of wines with the release of Goldschmidt Vineyards. The goal of the company was to produce two distinct brands of fine wines, Forefathers and Goldschmidt Vineyards; with the idea of focusing on site specific winemaking from great vineyard sites from around the world. Having produced so many world class wines from around the globe, Nick knew exactly which vineyard sites he would choose to make his wines from.

Under the Forefathers brand Nick and Yolyn produce a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, an Australian Shiraz, and a California Cabernet Sauvignon. For the Goldschmidt Vineyard brand they have created two distinct Cabernet Sauvignons, one from Alexander Valley in Sonoma and the other from Oakville in Napa Valley. The wines Nick and Yolyn Goldschmidt produce are all single vineyard, 100% varietal, handcrafted, small production artisan wines.

Currently, Nick makes wines for Ehret Family Wine. Today’s 2006 Hillside Reserve Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a 93 Points and Editor’s Choice from Wine Enthusiast, is crafted by Nick from the winery’s world-famous Bavarian Lion vineyard in the Knight’s Valley at the Northern end of the Napa Valley, in Sonoma County.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The vineyards in Knights Valey can be seen in this satellite photo.