In late November 2021, I flew to Barcelona to see Moises & Anne Cohen, and we tasted through almost every wine that they produced, minus a few. Well, fast forward to December 2024, and this time, Avi Davidowitz of Kosher Wine Unfiltered came with me! This trip was meant to be more about where the winery has come over the past 20 years than another full-tasting, though we did lots of tasting!
I have written many times about Elvi Wines, the first post I wrote about Moises and ElviWines can be found here. Truthfully, nothing has changed about that post in regards to Elvi Wines other than the labels and a few wines being dropped to streamline the marketing of the wines. My next main post on Elvi Wines was when I visited the winery with my wife. Before, in between, and after, I have consistently posted their wines in my QPR posts, wines of the year, and so on. Why? Because they make exceptional wines at reasonable prices and have a great selection of varietals under many labels. The labels have evolved, and some wines have been dropped, but overall, since I met Moises one day in San Francisco, tasting through the wines and listening to the story, the dream, nothing much has changed. Throughout it all, we have been blessed to watch the trajectory of the winery. It continues evolving, creating wonderful wines for a reasonable price while proving that Cabernet Sauvignon is not the only red wine that you can sell to the kosher wine buyer.
It is still more challenging to sell wines as diverse and different as Elvi does. There is no Cabernet, and there is no Merlot at Elvi (outside of the La Mancha wines). Sure they used to find their way into the EL26 blend (but that ended in 2017), but overall, Elvi is an expression of Spain – not an expression of the kosher wine palate. Elvi typifies Spain to the kosher buyer more than any other option and it has continued to excel in doing it. Sadly, we have seen Capcanes, which is a 5-minute drive from Clos Mesorah, take a significant step backward. They also showed Spain’s potential as a new-world wine in old-world clothing. Sadly, they have drunk from the same fountain of fruit that so many Israeli wineries have, and they have lost their way. Thankfully, Elvi Wines, Clos Mesorah, Herenza, and Vina Encina continue to execute great wines and improve and grow with new vineyards and winery plans.
Talking about new vineyards and expansion – that is what brought us to Priorat on a beautiful day in December 2024. Avi’s plane landed two hours after mine, but eventually, we found a way to meet up and then made our way to the Hertz rental desk, and off we went. Renting a car was so much better than taking the train or Uber, and it is the only way I will do it in the future. Getting OUT of the rental parking lot/area was insane, but things were fine after we were on the road. By now, Avi has already posted his take on this trip on his blog – Kosher Wine Unfiltered, but I have no desire to read that until AFTER I post this. So, if there are contradicting stories or statements, just know that mine are the truth!
Elvi Wines and Priorat
I think that people continue to see Clos Mesorah as the be-all wine for Elvi Wines, and while that may be true – on the outside – what they are missing is that Montsant essentially contains Priorat. In other words, Clos Mesorah (a winery and vineyard within Montsant) and EL26 (wine from Priorat vineyards) are twins. When the non-kosher world looks at Spain, the first region they talk about is Priorat, before they speak about Montsant, Cava, and others. Why? Because, not long ago, Priorat was almost dead. The entire story can be read on Wikipedia, and a shortened version can be read here on Jason Wilson’s recent post about Priorat wines. The takeaway is that while the region was almost dead in the late 1970s, it came storming back in the 1980s and became the darling of Spain in the 1990s. Of course, once again, Robert Parker was the person who “found” Priorat and the 100-point scores went to the most bombastic of wines.
At this point, one cannot talk about Priorat without talking about how it feels like Burgundy. Of course, not in regards to the grapes or even the wine styles, though many MWs have been tricked into thinking Grenache was a Pinot Noir. They share many characteristics, like their thin skins and light color. However, what is very interesting about Priorat is the incredible terroir, the magical steep slopes of mysterious Llicorella soil—reddish and black slate with quartz and mica particles that reflect and conserve the heat, along with clay, which holds water during the hot, dry summers. Here, Garnacha and Carignan thrive (again, Jason’s words). However, what is happening now in Priorat is that massive conglomerates are thrashing all over themselves to get a foothold into Priorat. The issue is there is just not much land out there. Priorat does not define itself by hectares or acres; it defines itself by vines. Each parcel is tiny, and they are owned by families dating far back in time. The more you read and study about the beauty and history of Priorat, the more you need to see it!
This and many other reasons brought Avi and I to Spain. I was lucky to drive up into the hills of the original Priorat vineyard, used to make EL26, with my wife in 2015, almost 10 years before this latest visit. I remember the drive up that mountain and trying to walk on it. It felt like the first time I tried walking around on a small boat in choppy waters. The experience is one you will not soon forget. The vines growing in, through, and around the magical Llicorella is just a sight to behold. The vines are literally crawling through rock, searching desperately for water. Once you taste your first EL26, you have some thoughts. Depending on the vintage, it is ordinarily HOT, ripe, almost candied; the heat of Spain is driven deep into the soul of that wine. However, given time, the heat and ripeness do calm, and the wine comes into its own. Still, this is not a wine that comes in below 14.5% ABV. Sometimes, this wine can hit 15.5% ABV. It is the nature of the beast and it is the nature of Priorat. It is this intense fruit, heat, and aging potential that captured the imagination of Robert Parker back in the early 1990s. You can get wines like the 2018 EL26, which may have been the best vintage until recently, and then you can get wines like what I had during this trip, and you start to think that there is something here, notwithstanding the incredible heat and elevated ABV.
Vineyards and Tasting
Avi drove down from the airport, and I was good for paying the tolls. By the time we arrived, we were a tad early, and Avi had yet to become human from his early morning travels. We dropped our bags in the adjacent room to the Clos Mesorah Winery, and Avi had time to return to the human race. After a few cups of coffee, we made our way to the vineyards that wrap Clos Mesorah, and to get closeup and friendly with Flus and his sister, Nina, the cats that patrol Clos Mesorah. They are the same loving creatures who donate living rabbits and Gosh-knows what else as tributes to their masters. They are lovely creatures, very caring, always present, and they love to climb the vines and love being around humans. Cool stuff!
As they were climbing the vines, Moises explained that the current Clos Mesorah vineyards are planted to a mix of 40% 90-year-old Carignan, 40% 25-year-old Grenache, and 20% 25-year-old Syrah.
In 2018, they leased vineyards from the property adjacent to them, which is planted with 100% 80-year-old Grenache vines. These grapes were used to make the first Sublim and the base Clos Mesorah as well.
In 2021, they finally purchased the land next to them. They are currently planting that to a mix of 65% Grenache and 35% Carignan and building the new Clos Mesorah Winery. This is slowly happening just as the massive planting and winery building in Priorat, La Saltadora, is winding down. Not a dull moment at Elvi Wines!
The expansion at Clos Mesorah means a new winery will need to be built on the newly purchased property. Once the new vineyards come online, the overall footprint will have tripled in size! Chazk!
After a fantastic lunch, we made our way to the new winery in the Priorat. The last time I was in Spain, during the madness that we call COVID, Nov 2021, I saw the twinkling in the eye of what would become La Saltadora. If you read to the end of the post, above the wine notes, you will see early pictures of the vines that now grace the rolling hills in and around La Saltadora. To imagine that Anne perceived, envisioned, and then built this glorious edifice to all things Priorat, when it was but a forest, blows my mind! The rolling hills of La Saltadora are made of the same glorious Llicorella soil, and we had the chance to taste some of the first wine from the barrel to be made of their fruit. The new vineyards at La Saltadora are planted to a mix of 60% Grenache and 40% Carignan.
Walking in and around the vineyard was just breathtaking, and the massive mountains in the background really took your breath away. Add to that the idea that they will plant vineyards inside the existing forest that wraps the vineyard as a way to create Agroforestry, and your mind is blown! The idea has been percolating in both Moises’s and Anne’s minds since they created the vineyard, and it took many years to convince the council that runs the DOCa, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Forest Ministry, and Falset Municipality. They explained that they would pay for it and that they wanted to see how it could be expanded beyond their vineyard, and eventually, they all bought in! Think about one set of red tape; this was a red tape ball! Insane!
Tasting
We made our way into the lovely winery. The lower half is where the wines are stored, both a barrel room and a bottle room, along with a lab and office for Leah Cohen. This half of the winery is literally carved into a mountainside. From the road below, all you see is a small and unassuming building on the top of the hill. As you approach, from the road, you realize the expanse of space that lives within the mountain space and how the small building hides among the rock and trees to make it look more natural.
We made our way up the stairs, past the barrel and bottle rooms, to a floor, with a large-format space that gives way to a tasting bar. On each side of the room and tasting bar, there is a lovely patio. The patio has incredible views along with handmade and handwrought iron and tile tables and chairs. Every drop of this glorious edifice, from the land and building to the tables, chairs, and everything else, was somehow ensconced in Anne’s mind, and with the help of Moises and their daughter Leah, they brought it magnificently to life.
In the large-format room, there is this massive table, which at times acts as an office at times and a tasting table, and whatever else is needed at that moment. The space is large, open, and inviting, and we made our way to the table and started the tasting.
For the longest time, Elvi Wines’ website did not work. I am sure it was because they were all working on La Saltadora. That said, a website for Elvi Wines is a very hard thing to get correct. The reason for that is the number of regions and wines they produce and sell. If you read my original post about Elvi Wines some 13 years ago, you will realize that while their marketing has evolved, their true passion is precisely the same. If you remember, back to the paragraph about the original emblem of Elvi, a boat carrying the consumer from wine region to wine region within Spain. You will see that boat is an analogy to the continuous focus, passion, and vision for quality and education, and you will understand that Elvi Wines has grown unchanged for 20 years.
It is not unique for Avi and I to taste many 10s of wines in a day, nor for those wines to differ in region and style, but it is always fun to see how much Elvi Wines has grown while staying the same. Elvi Wines produces wine in regions as varied as the country itself. The thing that continues to be highlighted by people like myself and others, is how well Elvi Wines creates world-class wines but keeps the prices tethered to the ground. Of course, there is the upper-echelon labels like Clos Mesorah, Sublim, and the older release of the Herenza Reserva. However, in the end, the vast majority of their wines, when they hit, and they normally do, are all QPR WINNER wines, given the continued focus on quality and affordability.
Anne, Leah, and Moises were all there, and Anne walked us through the entire lineup of wines we tasted. Those wines are listed in the notes below. Avi took all the pictures, so, as always, blame or thank him for the work!
Elvi makes wine in six regions: La Mancha, Rioja, Allela, Montsant, Priorat, and Cava.
The wines from Rioja and Allela have been combined into the Herenza label. For the longest time, it was not legal to have a label encompassing more than one wine region. Which was why the white wine known as InVita was under its own label. However, after some time, and with the rule change, it was brought under the Herenza label.
La Mancha covers the entire line of Vina Encina wines, which is an entry-level Mevushal wine series, and this is a set of wines that are hit or miss for me. When I look at wine, I am always looking at it with the prism of quality, AKA, would I drink this? While the wines have no flaws at all, and while the whole idea of Mevushal drives me crazy, these wines are made to fit a need, and, for the most part, I rarely have that need.
For the longest time, Elvi produced one wine from its Montsant vineyard – Clos Mesorah, its flagship wine. Then starting in 2016, they added the Sublim and that became the new Flagship wine for Elvi. After that, they added a new wine that we tasted that day, the sublime (PUN INTENDED) Clos Mesorah Garnatxa, a wine that took my breath away! With the expansion of the vineyards in and around the existing Clos Mesorah Winery, there will be other wines that will be produced under the label as well.
Priorat was also a wine region that served a single wine for the longest time. However, again, with the expansion of La Saltadora, there will be an expansion of the EL26 line. The exact names are still in the works, but rest assured, three or more wines will be eventually made from this region.
Finally, there is the Cava, a lovely, simple, but to-the-point sparkling wine that is not Mevushal and quite enjoyable.
Things to Point Out
Outside of the usual Elvi Wines, there were three new wines that are bottled so I wanted to talk about those a bit.
First, there is a brand new label officially being called SIBLINGS by Mesorah. It is a Mevushal wine run by the siblings David and Leah Cohen. It is meant to sit in between the labels, price-wise, and is an opportunity to further educate people about the grapes/varietals of Spain.
Next was the second iteration of the new Flagship wine, the 2018 Clos Mesorah Sublim. On an aside, the spelling is driving my spell checker crazy! That is a wine that needs so much time. It is hilarious. At the start, it feels like an oak and fruit bomb, but thankfully, with time, that wine calms down and shows its potential. Even at the opening, I said the acidity and balance were there, and the “fat” just needed time to blow off and eventually integrate.
Finally, there is another new label that I hinted at above: the 2022 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah Garnatxa. I need to stress some things about this wine, and I may well repeat what the notes say. This wine is insanely good. This is a wine made of one varietal; the ABV is nuts, at 15%, but it feels so fresh, alive, unique, and so darn good that it blows the mind. The first time you are lucky enough to taste this – be ready to be blown away. I will let the notes speak for themselves.
Rioja
Okay, so let’s talk about Rioja. Rioja is a lovely wine made from Tempranillo and, by custom, aged in American Oak Barrels. I have had a love-hate relationship with this wine for the longest time. American oak does things to my brain that are just incomprehensible. That sweet/hickory/Coconut/Dill/Vanilla thing throws my brain into a tizzy, and I have difficulty appreciating it. During this tasting, Avi and I realized, while tasting varying versions of the Rioja wines, that I had been approaching Herenza from the wrong direction.
For the longest time, I have been telling myself, that the wines will get better with age. Meaning, that the hickory/Sweet Dill would fade, that is categorically wrong. Rioja wines will age forever, or close to it, that is not the issue. My issue is with the strong notes that the oak imparts. If you read about how Rioja is aged in oak, you will see that new oak is rarely used, if at all. Still, no matter, American Oak just does things to me. I understand that the oak is not new and that the toast levels and mixed formats are changing the way people look at American Oak. None of that matters to me at all. What does matter is that while I do not make wine, and I do not tell winemakers how to make wine, I DO write about what I taste. Further, certain aspects of wine, balance, acidity, and, yes, American Oak, are characteristics that, to me, affect MY pleasure of tasting a wine, for the good and bad.
Still, the score will not change based on the fact that I dislike American Oak. What will change is how I drink the wine. We realized there is a sweet spot, particularly for Herenza Crianza and Reserva wines, that works well for me. What that means is that my DW will now be shifting, DRASTICALLY! That does not make the wines bad or not as enjoyable; it is my reminder to myself that the time to drink these wines is earlier, rather than later, in regards to the Reserva. Essentially, as soon as the Reserva is released (Elvi releases them some 4 years after production) it is good to go for a certain amount of time. That window is not as long as I thought it was before but that is fine.
In regards to the Crianza, the window starts a bit after the wine is released and is good for a few years after that start time. Again, these times are not as elongated as I had them before.
Rest of the trip
After the tasting, we made it back to the “hotel,” AKA Clos Mesorah, and had a lovely dinner that was filled with lots of talk about wine, Spain, and life! Then, it was to bed after a long day of travel, tasting, and vineyard walking.
The next day, we took a drive to see lovely Miravet – a magical locale in the middle of Catalonia. Just read Wikipedia about this place: Miravet is a municipality in the comarca of Ribera d’Ebre in the Province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The village and the castle were founded by the Moors and rebuilt by the Knights Templar and transformed into a fortress-monastery, after the conquest of 1153. Wikipedia
Come on! You had me at Castle, then throw in Knights Templar—and game over!! Look at the photos—this place is lovely! The coffee at the cafe under the castle was lovely! I had seen this place with Moises on my last trip, but this time, we walked along the old walled streets, and it is a cool spot to visit for sure!
We retasted a few of the wines again, and then we went off to see the city of Tarragona. A clear value in renting the car was the freedom to go where we wanted. The issue was not having money for the parking. UGH! That was a mess and a whole story on its own. Maybe Avi wrote it up, I am fine either way, but that is for another time. Then, we made our way back to Barcelona and got some food at Ben-Ben, a lovely place that needs MUCH better marketing and information. I see now that their website has been updated – a HUGE difference from what was there before we went to Spain. Then we checked into the hotel, yet another story unto itself, and then we made our way to the famous Xerta. Officially certified by the Jewish community, Xerta is the first and only Michelin Star restaurant in Europe to offer kosher cuisine at its highest level. The wording there is a bit tricky, as is getting a reservation to this place.
Xerta is a beautiful restaurant that is NOT Kosher and has earned a Michelin star. The kosher food served out of it occurs once or twice a month during the days that the non-kosher restaurant is not open. The kosher part has its own kitchen and utensils, and so on. I will not get into what I thought about the experience other than to say I was hoping for more, and I hope the next time, it will have fixed its kinks. I understand that this is a new menu, and as such, you get what is served to you on that day, and there is little else one can do. Other than that, the rest of the trip consisted of sightseeing and then going home.
In closing, this entire adventure was incredible. None of it would have occurred without the hospitality, kindness, and care of Moises and Anne Cohen, along with Leah Cohen. David Cohen was out of the country, but we met up for KFWE Miami, and I hope Moises and Anne, along with Lean and David, will come to the next KFWE NJ/NY. My many thanks to Moises, Anne, Leah, and the family for all their kindness, hospitality, time, and, of course, their wonderful wines! The wine notes follow below, listed in the order they were tasted – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
N.V. ElviWines Cava, Cava – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The wine is a blend of Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel-lo.
The nose of this wine is tart and bright, with tart nectarines, peach, green apple, and smoke/flint—very nice! The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has a great attack of small bubbles, nice mouthfeel, with a nice mouthfeel, a bit of funk, along with some pith, apple, nectarines, and peach.
The finish is lovely, long, tart, and smoky, with great fruit, acidity, and a lovely mousse attack! Drink now. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 12%)
2023 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Blanco, La Mancha (M) – Score: 88 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is nice.
It is ripe but not candied, crazy gooseberry, passionfruit, guava, lemon, and lime.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has enough acidity with great passionfruit, gooseberry, peach, and guava, with smoke and a nice approach. Drink now. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 13%)
2022 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Rosado, La Mancha (M) – Score: 86 (QPR: EVEN)
A nice simple rose, not too bitter, fruity with good acidity, strawberry, peach, and pomelo. Drink now. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 14.5%)
2022 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah, Montsant – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely. It pops with intense brightness, followed by a massive attack of ripe but controlled fruit, white pepper, lovely funk, dense minerality, rich salinity, intense graphite, roasted animal, soy sauce, blue and red fruit, ripe and juicy blueberry fruit, and lovely root beer.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, dense, rich, layered, elegant, and nicely extracted. It has lovely acidity, impressive freshness, intense blackberry, raspberry, nice blueberry, rich black pepper, graphite, soy sauce, umami, loam, dirt, forest floor, lovely mouth-coating tannin, and good fruit focus.
The finish is long, dirty, earthy, smoky, and umami-dense, with great graphite and ripe, mouth-draining tannin, dirt, minerality, graphite, and blue fruit, and a smoked animal lingering long. Nice! Drink from 2030 until 2036. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 15%)
2021 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah, Montsant – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This is the third time I am tasting the 2021, and it is showing improvement. More fruit is emerging, and brightness and pop are off the charts.
The nose of this wine is lovely, showing already some funk, with rich salinity, roasted animal, soy sauce, blue and red fruit, ripe and juicy blueberry fruit, and lovely root beer.
The mouth of this medium-plus wine is ripe, rich, layered, elegant, not concentrated or extracted, with lovely acidity, intense blueberry, and ripe raspberry, loam dirt, forest floor, lovely mouth-coating tannin, and good fruit focus. With time, the fruit shows riper than at the start and less soy sauce.
The finish is long, dirty, earthy, smoky, and ripe, with tannin, dirt, minerality, graphite, blue fruit, and a lingering smoked animal. Nice! Drink by 2032. (tasted November 2023 & December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain, & Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)
2022 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah Garnatxa, Montsant – Score: 95 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely. It pops with intense brightness, followed by a massive attack of ripe but controlled fruit, dense minerality, rich salinity, intense graphite, lovely cloves, cinnamon, warm spices, loam, dirt, earth, lovely raspberry, strawberry, and ripe/bright red berries. WOW! With time, the wine becomes even more complex, showing floral notes, ripe fruit, and lovely sweet spices. Bravo!
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is so elegant, complex, and singular in grape, and there is nowhere to hide in this bottle; it is complex, lithe, rich, and layered but intensely refreshing. This wine is the Pinot Noir of the Rhone and Spain; there is nowhere to hide, and yet the wine is so impressive. This wine is pure black magic; it is ripe, lithe, tart, acidic, elegant, and dirty, all in the same glass, and yet this is a wine that does not exist in Kosher. Sure, there are lovely blends, but a wine this ripe that is also elegant, lithe, and smoky, you want to drink it all!
The mouth is lovely, ripe, layered, elegant, and toasty, with sweet spices, lovely raspberry, and strawberry, nice umami, really fun, expressive, and captivating; it is so unique and special, with umami, and mouth-drawing elegance, WOW! Bravo! The finish is long, dirty, earthy, smoky, and umami-dense, with great graphite and ripe, mouth-draining tannin. Dirt, minerality, graphite, ripe and tart red fruit, and intense acidity linger long. Drink from 2030 until 2036. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 15%)
2018 Clos Mesorah Sublim, Montsant – Score: 94 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a bit shocking. At this time, it is an elevated wine that shows more oak application than the 2016 Sublime. Still, the nose of this wine shows intense oak impact, with sweet vanilla, sweet oak, cloves, cinnamon, sage, sweet dill, milk chocolate, intense black and red fruit, and loam and rich dirt. After a day, the wine shows what it will be in many years. The wine is ripe, but the fat of oak and sweet spices integrate and show beautifully.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is dense, layered, rich, and extracted—and wow! It has intense milk chocolate, blackberry, dark cherry, dark plum, some raspberry, intense sweet spices, lovely cinnamon, nice elegant sweet oak, and layer upon layer of ripe fruit, minerality, smoke, toast, dense oak influence, and incredible tannin attack.
The finish is long, tart, dense, and ripe, with great acidity, rich vanilla, milk chocolate, leather, cloves, and sweet sage/cinnamon. This is a baby; it is deeply elegant, it is balanced, and what people will taste at the start is the intense oak, but really, this needs time to calm down and come together. The truth of this wine is that it is a more oaked 2018 right now, but it has the potential to be better. However, time will tell. Drink from 2030 until 2040. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 16%)
2022 ElviWines SIBLINGS Mesorah, Montsant (M) – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 80% Grenache & 20% Carignan.
The nose of this wine is interesting; it shows a bit of oak, with the quality and pop I want from Clos Mesorah, while also being more accessible from the start.
The nose of this wine has some oak, with black and red fruit, dirt, loam, pop, and acidity, and nice umami, loam, and dirt. The wine hits the target of wanting the younger generation to enjoy it. In the end, the wine meets that need, which is an accessible and enjoyable Clos Mesorah.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has great acidity, is mouth-draping, and has a nice mouthfeel from the sweet oak, blackberry, plum, tart raspberry, nice blueberry, loam, and a lovely fruit focus that is ready to go and accessible.
The finish is long, tart, and ripe, but it is balanced with great acidity, fruit, loam, minerality, and mouthfeel, which makes the wine fun now and also fun for a few years. Drink by 2028. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 15%)
2022 Elvi Wines Herenza Rioja, Rioja (M)- Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is balanced, ripe, savory, and juicy. It has blue and red fruit, a bit more oak than in 2021, sweet dill, rich smoke, herbal notes, and nice loam. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, balanced, and herbal, with juicy strawberry and raspberry, nice toast, green notes, sweet oak, roasted mint and oregano, soft tannins, and some minerality. The finish is long, herbal, and juicy, with more red fruit, loam, and smoke. Drink by 2027. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 13.5%)
2021 Elvi Wines Herenza Rioja, Rioja (M) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is balanced, ripe, savory, and juicy, with blue and red fruit, rich smoke, herbal, and nice yellow flowers. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, balanced, simple, and herbal, with boysenberry, juicy strawberry, raspberry, nice toast, green notes, roasted mint, oregano, soft tannins, and some minerality. The finish is long, herbal, and juicy, with more blue and red fruit, loam, and smoke. Drink by 2025. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 14%)
2020 Elvi Wines Herenza, Crianza, Rioja – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine has changed significantly. It now shows deeper acidity, more pop, less oak, and an overall enjoyable experience. The nose of this wine is nice and balanced, showing far better now. It has coffee, good pop, cherry, soy sauce, and tobacco. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine has changed drastically; it now has a balance driven by good acidity, with sweet oak and vanilla, dark cherry, plum, nice loam, coffee, and sweet dill. This is fun and refreshing. The finish is long, ripe, balanced, and refreshing, with coffee, vanilla, sweet dill, and smoke. Drink by 2028. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 14%)
2021 Elvi Wines Herenza, Crianza, Rioja – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is nice, showing good acidity, pop, tart fruit, loads of smoke, ripe fruit, almost black, elegant, with loam, nice coffee, and umami. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely. There is nice sweet oak, but the wine is balanced, with great acidity and smoke; at the start, it is closed, with blackberry, plum, and dark cherry, a nice mouthfeel, and nice tannin and smoke. The finish is long, ripe, and balanced, with more sweet oak, lovely vanilla, and deep loam. Nice!! Drink by 2028. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 14%)
2020 Elvi Wines Herenza Crianza, Collection, Rioja (M) – Score: 88 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is nice, with american oak, sweet raspberry, cherry, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, not shlowing the mevushal process anymore, with nice acidity, but the fruit is restarined, cherry, more american oak, and nice tannin. The finish is long, acidic, and balanced. Drink now! (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 13.5%)
2018 Elvi Wines Herenza, Rioja Reserva, Rioja – Score: 94+ (QPR: WINNER)
I have had this wine a few times now and the biggest thing that has changed for me is the drinking window.
I crave this in wine – balance, complexity, elegance, and all bottled for a price that makes it a WINNER! The nose of this wine is beautiful, balanced, and complex, showing a drop hotter than in 2017, but still bold, rich, and expressive, with soy sauce, umami, rich mushroom, loam, spices, blue and red fruit, and sweet star anise, lovely!
The mouth on this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, balanced, juicy, elegant, herbal, smoky, and dirty, with intense acidity, juicy and ripe boysenberry, plum, spiced raspberry, and sweet spices that give way to a mouth-draping tannin structure, plush, nicely extracted, elegant, with soy sauce, sweet nutmeg, and cinnamon, beautiful.
The finish is long, and balanced, with leather, root beer, sweet baking spices, cloves, cinnamon, sweet cedar, milk chocolate, soy sauce, and lovely acidity that brings this wine altogether. Bravo!! Another smash! Drink from 2025 until 2032. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 14.5%)
2019 Elvi Wines Herenza, Rioja Reserva, Rioja – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This is the second time I have had this. I had it in NJ, and I was less impressed than I am now. I wonder if the shipping caused bottle shock. I will need to taste this again in NJ for KFWE.
This is a more elegant and unique Rioja than the 2018. The nose of this wine is lovely but a bit closed. I want more mushrooms. It is there; it needs time. It has sweet spices, umami, lovely red fruit, soy sauce, loam, and milk chocolate.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe, not candied, with some sweet oak, intense acidity, juicy and ripe plum, spiced raspberry, dense minerality, salinity, smoke, and sweet spices that give way to a mouth-draping tannin structure. It is plush, with sweet spices, cinnamon, cloves, and rich oak.
The finish is long and balanced, with sweet baking spices, cloves, cinnamon, sweet cedar, milk chocolate, some nice mushrooms in the back, soy sauce, and lovely acidity that bring this wine together. I think that we should be drinking these Reserva younger, including the 2018 vintage, these young! Drink until 2027. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 14.5%)
2023 Elvi Wines Herenza, White, Alella – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 70% Pansa Blanca & 30% Sauvignon Blanc. This vintage is riper and less acidic but still a nice wine overall. With time, that changes, and the wine comes into its own, becoming riper, fruitier, and showing lovely acidity. The nose of this lovely wine is lychee, intense orange notes, lovely gooseberry, pink grapefruit, nectarines, orange blossom, flint/smoke, and nice minerality. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine shows enough acidity; more acidity shows with time, minerality, melon, Asian pear, pink grapefruit, lemon/lime, and lychee, refreshing, with salinity, and honeyed citrus. The finish is long, ripe, and tart, with flint and loads of orange fruit. Lovely! Drink until 2027. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 13%)
2019 Elvi Wines Adar, Ribera del Jucar (M) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe, and candied, but also enjoyable given its minerality, smoke, soy sauce, and roasted meat aromas. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, and the acidity is great, with soy sauce, sweet oak, blackberry, ripe blackcurrant that does bug me a bit, plum, screaming charcoal and graphite, nice sweet tannin, and roasted herb. The finish is long, ripe, and candied but balanced with acidity, charcoal, roasted meat, soy sauce, roasted coffee beans, and rich smoke. Drink by 2026. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 13.5%)
2021 Elvi Wines El26, Priorat – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 60% Grenache & 40% Carignan The nose of this wine shows far more balanced than the 2020 vintage, with beautiful mushroom, funk, rich minerality, loam, rock, slate, and limestone; this wine is pure minerality, with massive pop, tart, and rich, and the nose pulls you in and never lets you leave. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is crazy, ripe, layered, tart, juicy, smoky, earthy, rocky, and rich in minerality; the pop, expression, and tension at the front are crazy, with blackberry, plum, boysenberry, dark cherry, smoke, roasted animal, mushroom, and loads of earth. Wow! The finish is long, ripe, dirty, smoky, and herbal, with cola, vanilla, strawberry, and graphite! Drink until 2034. WOW! (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 15.5%)
2023 Elvi Wines Vina Encina, Cabernet Sauvignon, La Mancha (M) – Score: 81 (QPR: POOR)
I like Vina Encina normally, but this wine is very floral and ripe for me, and the wine misses the mark here. The fruitiness overtakes the acidity and it feels off-kilter (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 14%)