When I was in Paris I asked Moises Cohen, from Elvi Wines to ship the new 2021 wines to my hotel. I have written many times about Elvi Wines, including giving them the Winery of the year award for 2021. Moises was so very kind to send them, but then I moved hotels, crazy story for another time. Thankfully, I was not far from the hotel and I rolled in twice to get my wines. As I hinted in my previous post, it was humorous to ask the Concierge for my boxes when I was not a hotel guest. He understood the situation and was more than happy to help.

As I stated in my year in review when I gave Elvi Wines the winery of the Year award, Elvi is not just about big expensive wines. The majority of their wines garner QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) scores regularly. Even the most expensive wines, other than the Sublim, are all in the QPR range.

These four wines are a great example of how diverse and yet wonderful Elvi Wines is. As I posted, in one of my earliest posts on Elvi Wines, more than ten years ago, Mr. Cohen wanted the winery to “sojourn” all around Spain to develop a range of wines, from local grapes, that reflect their respective terroir. The logo on the bottle draws from this inspiration, a Mediterranean boat, with which they can travel across Spain, to harvest and bottle the best of what Spain has to offer. The winery consults with many vineyards and wineries, which allows them to select from many wineries all around Spain where they can make the best wine for the value.

The four wines summer wines hail from regions as diverse as Alella, La Mancha, and Rioja! Three very different regions of Spain, all separated by hundreds of miles in each direction. Still, with all the work required to make this dream a reality, the wines show their terroir and the quality that Elvi Wines has come to be synonymous with. A true joy.

This year, the Cohens have made wine from a new kosher varietal, at least for me, Xarello! I am not an idiot, I know Xarello is used in Cava production, but this is the first still version of Xarello that I have seen made kosher. It is funky, fun, and a true treat! I hope it comes to the USA soon! The main issue with these wines is that they are not available here in the USA yet, other than maybe the 2021 Herenza rose. Which I think is in stock now at Royal.

As usual, the 2021 version of Herenza White is lovely, and one wine that will last a bit longer than the other three. The blend of Pansa Blanca and Sauvignon Blanc just screams with brightness and refreshing notes. Not as funky as the Xarello but also a wine with a richer mouthfeel and lovely minerality. The two roses are solid to nice.

I hope they will come soon and be for sale, these wines are not for long holding, other than the Herenza white, as such I hope they are for sale soon here in the USA.

Many thanks to Moises and Anne for sharing their wonderful wines with me and shipping them to Paris! The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

2021 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Blanco, Alella (M) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This is one of the first ever kosher Xarello kosher wines that I know of. The nose of this wine is fun, with loads of saline, lime blossom, ginger, peach, and smoke, fun! The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is refreshing and very tart with impressive texture, and funk. almond paste, Kaffir lime, smoke, peach, ginger, and more lime, lovely, tart, and flinty – refreshing and lovely! The finish is long, green, herbal, flinty, and fun! Drink now. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12%)

2021 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Rosado , La Mancha (M) – Score: 88.5 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this rose is riper than I like but it is also a bit funky and dirty. The mouth of this medium-bodied rose, shows good acidity, funk, strawberry, raspberry, flint, and orange flavors, but it is a bit simple and rustic, with a nice pith. The finish is long, rustic, and pithy. Drink now. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Elvi Wines Herenza White, Alella – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 60% Pansa Blanca & 40% Sauvignon Blanc. The nose of this lovely wine is screaming with gooseberry, lychee, pink grapefruit, orange blossom, and nice minerality. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine shows lovely acidity, lovely precision, good fruit focus with more acidity, minerality, saline, gooseberry, lovely tension, honeyed citrus, lemon/lime, and minerality. The finish is long, green, tart, and mineral-focused, with great saline, slate, flint, and sweet/tart fruit. Lovely! Drink until 2024. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12%)

2021 Elvi Wines Herenza, Rose, Rioja – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine shows nice red fruit, with orange blossom, citrus, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, with good acidity, mouth-filling, with fruit focus, strawberry, raspberry, blossom, and more good minerality. Quite refreshing and enjoyable. The finish is long, tart, and mineral-driven, with rock, flint, saline, Orangina, and slate. Enjoy! Drink now! (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)