Those are not my words, though I echo them as well, they are the words of Jay Miller, a wine writer and critic for Robert Parker‘s highly influential Wine Advocate newsletter, when tasting the 2005 Elvi Wines El26 Dolc . In April, 2010 Mr. Miller had the opportunity to taste 11 of Elvi Wine’s newest wines, and he gave a score of 90 or above to 5 of them, while the rest garnered scores of 86 or higher. As a side note, while Mr. Miller tasted the wines in April 2010, along with 172 other Spanish wines, he decided to split the publishing of the scores between the April and December editions of WA (Wine Advocate). The WA scores and notes were quite impressive, but equally impressive were the scores that almost mimicked Mr. Miller’s scores by another esteemed wine critic, Grupo Peñín, one of the world’s leading authorities on Spanish wines. Mr. Peñín scored the elite wines very much in line with the scores of Mr. Miller. To be even handed, clearly the Wine Spectator did not love the wines nearly as much as Mr. Miller. Dr. Rogov has yet to publish his notes for the entire line, but I am sure, we will be seeing those scores and notes as soon as he has a moment to breathe on his forum. Of the wines that Rogov has tasted, he also does not see things like Penin and Miller do, but he is far more in line with the scores that we have given Elvi on their wines. We have yet to taste many of these wines, but they will be at the Oxnard International Food and Wine Festival in February, so keep your eyes open for more articles on Elvi Wines in the near future.

It all started some 10 years ago, when Mr. Moises Cohen started a family run winery whose premise was to show the world the potential greatness that lies in the heart of Spain’s wine regions. The winery’s first release was in 2003, and since then they have slowly been growing the business. slowly but surely the Cohens have added unique and wonderful wines to their portfolio, that show the true vibrancy of the region, all the while making sure that they control the quality of the wines that they produce. If you have ever looked at any Elvi Wine bottle you would hard pressed to miss the Mediterranean boat, which is the company’s logo. The logo was chosen as a way to express the mission statement of Elvi Wines; to travel across Spain to harvest and bottle the best of what Spain has to offer. The winery’s imports its wine to the USA with Royal Wines, and they compete with Capcanes and other up and coming Spanish kosher wines, which are also brought in by Royal. This must make for some interesting conversations when discussing the yearly allocation of wine for export through Royal. Still, the winery is growing from strength to strength with the export ability of Royal’s and the controlled growth that the Cohens have shown, in expanding their wine portfolio. It is always a hard balance between not expanding fast enough and expanding too much so that you are stuck with more inventory than there is demand. Luckily, Elvi has shown the ability to grow their portfolio from value wines, to upper tier wines, all the way to elite wines, while all the while keeping the costs in line and the quality even higher.

From what we have had the privilege to taste in the past, all we can say is; congratulations to the Cohens for keeping true to your faith and wine traditions of high quality, virtuous wines, while all the while making sure that they are accessible to the common man.

Many thanks to Mr. Cohen for taking the time to converse with us throughout his varied travels, and we look forward to tasting these many wines in the near future. The scores listed below are from previous wine tastings – but brought together here in context of this posting:

2005 Elvi Wines Ribera del Júcar Adar – Score: A-
The nose on this dark garnet colored wine, with slight browning on the edges, is hopping with coffee, licorice, black cherry, black plum, blackberry, rich oak, loamy dirt, and dates. The mouth on this full bodied wine is concentrated out of the bottle, that dissipates a bit over time, coffee, black cherry, black plum, and clear oak influence. The mid palate carries the concentrated flavors, and adds in lovely not yet integrated tannins, balanced acidity, and more oak. The finish is super long and a bit firm, which too softens in the glass, with tight and concentrated black cherry, oak, coffee, and dates. The wine is clearly at its peak or a bit over it. The wine is throwing sediment, browning on the edges, and showing date flavors that are not from the fruit but from age. That said, the wine is holding up quite fine with serious flavors, concentration, and oak influence. The wine does soften up a bit with time in the glass but never comes to a soft mouth palate that feels full in the mouth. rather this is a wine that is best enjoyed out of the bottle with little airing and watch how the wine evolves in the glass. It is a wine that is concentrated and will show that way. Enjoy with hearty Ragù, grilled meat, and/or hard cheese.

2007 Elvi Wines Classico, Ribera del Jucar – Score: B+
The nose on this garnet colored wine, which is a blended wine of 87% Tempranillo and 13% Merlot, is ripe with plum, cherry, raspberry, and spice.  The mouth of this medium bodied wine is soft with raspberry, cherry, and plum.  The mid palate is bright with core acidity and a hint of coffee.  The finish is medium long and spicy with more acid, soft tannins, coffee, and pepper/spice. This winery keeps delivering.

PLEASE NOTE – This is the ONLY Mevushal wine from the Elvi Wines group. All other wines from them are not Mevushal.

2008 Elvi Wines Rioja Matiz – Score: B+
The nose on this dark garnet to purple colored wine has raspberry, black cherry, rich plum, stone mineral, oak, herbs, and kirsch. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is rich and mouth coating with black cherry, kirsch, tart cherry, and raspberry. The mid palate is bright with heavy acid and not yet integrated tannins. The finish is spicy and long-lasting with black cherry, coffee, and nice tannins. NOTE: This wine has sediment, not sure why such a young wine has so much sediment, so keep the wine upright for a couple of days and make sure not to pour the wine till the last drop, as the last poor person, may get a slushy or chunky glass of wine.

Elvi Wines Adar Cava Brut N.V. – Score: B+
The nose on this bubbly and effervescent light pink colored wine, is hopping with strawberry, lemon, and cherry.  The mouth on this light to medium bodied wine is packed with small bubbles that are active and alive, they mingle well with the strawberry and cherry.  The mid palate is alive with bracing acidity.  The finish is medium long with core acidity, strawberry, bubbles, and a lemon burst at the very tail end.  Drink UP!

2004 Elvi Wines Ness (50% Tempranillo, 20% Bobal, 20% Syrah and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon) – Score: B+
The nose on this dark garnet to purple colored wine starts off with Syrah characteristics, it is really powerful with roasted herb, fig, vanilla, blackberry, plum, dark chocolate, tar extraction, and oak.  The mouth on this full bodied wine is concentrated with blackberry, red plum, and herbs.  The mid palate is bright with acidity, tar, and oak.  The finish is spicy and long with pepper, oak, dark fruit, tar, and chocolate.  The wine is clearly showing its Syrah components, with its extracted and peppery flavors – quite nice!

Elvi Wines Vina Encina 2004 – Score: B to B+
The nose on this dark garnet colored wine has aromas of coffee, blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, plum, and cloves. The mouth of this somewhat complex and medium bodied wine starts with cherry, plum, and cranberry. The mid palate of this enjoyable and tannin rich wine, has oak, allspice, and a good amount of not yet integrated tannins. The finish is long with oak, coffee, nice tannin, and acidity.