St. Supery Estate Elu Red Magnum (1)

Friday, December 14, 2012

Everyone knows that it’s what’s above the letters that matter. If you want to hear heavy metal, you look for the umlaut. If you want Mexican food, you look for the spicy tilde above the O. And if you want wine, you want something like the St. Supery Estate Elu.

Plum aromas, inky garnet hues, flavors of smooth vanilla and tobacco: that’s what you’ll find in this wine. But in the name? You’ll find TWO acute accents that’ll have you looking at your operating system’s character map every time you try to explain to your friend how well it’ll age. That means this is a wine that forces you to learn. And that means a wine that’s classy.

Don’t be afraid of the diacritic. Embrace it. Embrace the St. Supery Estate Elu. Let those accents educate you.

Total MSRP:   $ 174.00

• Appellation: Napa Valley
• Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, 7% Merlot
• pH: 3.74
• Total Acidity: 5.9 g/L
• Residual Sugar: <0.02%
• Wine Alcohol: 14.3%
• Winemaking: This wine was aged in 64% French oak and 36% American oak barrels (32% New oak)

The year 2006 appears to show great promise in the grape growing world. It started as an average year with moderate rainfall and mild temperatures throughout the winter months. In March, the sudden onset of spring lead to temperatures well into the 80’s for over a week. This rapid heat spike caused vines to suddenly awake from their winter dormancy and grow rapidly. As temperatures soon fell back to normal the vines began growing at a more normal pace with more regular summer weather.

The grapes for this wine were harvested at night and in the cool early morning hours of September and October to maintain the delicate fruit flavors. Upon arrival at the winery, the grapes were crushed and pressed into chilled tanks for settling. The clean juice was racked and fermentation was initiated in temperature-controlled storage. A long, cool fermentation allowed for excellent flavor retention. After final blending, the wine was stabilized and prepared for bottling.

Woot