I have been drinking wines from Ehlers Estate for a good number of years, and this week was finally able to visit the winery, which is located in St. Helena on an historic property that was developed by Bernard Ehlers in the 1800s.
Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Rosé comprise the bulk of the estate’s offerings, and based on some tank tasting, I am excited about what Ehlers’ new winemaker has under way.
Her name is Laura Díaz Muñoz; she took over as winemaker and general manager of Ehlers in 2018 … and her touch and style are evident everywhere. There’s a concrete egg in the winery’s tank room (a first at Ehlers), and Muñoz has long-term plans for some of the estate’s established vines — she is confident that they have much more (quality) life in them.
Muñoz is from Spain, and studied enology at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.
“I was sitting with my father in northern Spain at a restaurant during a family vacation, and he ordered percebes and a local wine,” she told me when I asked her about her introduction to the world of wine. “I sipped the wine, and tasted the seafood and smelled the sea air, and from that moment knew that I somehow wanted to live and work with wine.”
After graduation, Muñoz worked at several wineries in Spain, then took her skills to New Zealand and Chile. California was her next stop, and she has been in the Napa Valley for more than a decade, making wine for Cardinale, Galerie, La Jota, and, since last year, Ehlers.
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