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WILLOWS, Calif. (December 9, 2012)- The No. 00 Motorsports Solutions/Ehret Family Vineyards won the tenth running of the United States Air Force 25 Hours of Thunderhill today.

Pierre Ehret along with team members Tyler McQuarrie, Anthony Ward, Christian Bollrath and Memo Gidley drove the No. 00 Motorsports Solutions/Ehret Family Vineyards Porsche 997 Cup car to an amazing 1^st place finish after a grueling 25 hours of endurance racing.

Pierre Ehret, owner of Santa Rosa, CA’s Flamingo Resort and Spa and respected Knights Valley grape grower, entered the world of racing at a later age than most, proving that, not unlike like the stunning wines he produces from Knights Valley, Sonoma County, things do get better with age. Pierre’s family has been a part of Sonoma County for more than 20 years.  

Why did you get into racing in the first place?
Pierre: I started racing at the tender age of 40, because it was something that I always wanted to do but didn’t want to pay for. After a while, I realized that life is just too short to let things pass by.

What sort of street car do you drive?
Pierre: A few – all of them sporty and German or Italian.

What's your overarching philosophy in life?
Pierre: Live and let live.

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Under the glow of a full harvest moon, Ehret Family Winery, shined brightly. On Saturday, September 29, 2012. Ehret Family Winery proudly received 4 coveted Gold Medals at the 38^th Annual Sonoma County Harvest Fair. The award winning wines were a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008 Bella’s Blend, 2007 Syrah and their 2011 White Table Wine.

“It really was a pleasant surprise and we’re excited to be recognized as a growing leader in Sonoma County’s family-owned boutique wineries,” remarked Pierre Ehret, owner of Ehret Family Winery and the Flamingo Hotel Conference Center & Resort in Santa Rosa, CA.

The Harvest Fair is the largest regional wine competition in the United States. Blind tasting over 185 of Sonoma County’s largest and smallest wineries, Sommeliers from across the country tasted and judged 949 different wines. These experts carefully determined the cause celebres according to varietal groups and price points.

William Sleeth a Certified Sommelier, wine specialist and independent broker in the North Bay Area attended the gala event Saturday. “I was bursting with elation when the awards were announced for Ehret Family Winery. With a plethora of wines to choose from for fine restaurants to wine shops, it’s a pleasure presenting these distinctive wines to my clients.”

In 2011, at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, Ehret Family Winery won Double Gold for their 2006 Bella’s Blend and Gold for their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. Wine Enthusiast magazine’s CA Bureau Chief, Mr. Steve Heimoff wrote, “This is a winery to keep an eye on!”

Anyone interested in tasting this year's award winning wines can do so Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 5th, 6th and 7th, 2012 at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair. Come experience Knights Valley's "Little Bourdeaux" and Ehret Family Winery. And enjoy great wines of distinction!

And the rains came..finally! After an unseasonably dry Winter, it has rained at last. A thirsty Knights Valley drank deeply and is now abloom with wild flowers of countless varieties. The vines are waking up at last and so it begins. The first stages of Harvest 2012!

What this harvest produces is anybody's guess but for now all is well.

We celebrate this year's Vernal Equinox with great optimism and a special offer found right here on our new website. Yes, that's right, our brand new website complete with a new and improved, user-friendly shopping cart! We are very excited and hope all of you regular EFW guests will be as pleased as we are.

Our offer to you is a very Springy 15% off all of our wines. To take advantage simply enter the code SPRING12 and receive it instantly.

To keep even more up to date with our 'goings-on don't forget to visit us on Facebook and Twitter.

So Happy Spring to all our friends.

Cheers,

Ehret Family Winery

Bellarina 2008 Meritage Cabernet Blend, Knights Valley has been chosen by this year’s Cabernet Shootout panel as one of the top wines tasted.

The Cabernet Shootout panel tasted and evaluated 287 outstanding wines. 32 of the top wines will be featured in a blind tasting at The Cabernet ShootoutChallenge in San Francisco on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at The Winery SF on Treasure Island. The educational event will be hosted by the Bay Area Wine Society, The Winery-SF, and Affairs of the Vine.

2011 Cabernet Shootout Results
Scores: Women Judges Bang for your Buck

2011 Cabernet Shootout Results
Scores: Women Judges
Scores: Women Judges Bang for Your Buck
Scores: Men Judges
Scores: Men Judges Bang for Your Buck

= Love at First Sip

Bellarina Meritage 2008 Cabernet Blend
Knights Valley, $22.00

790 cases produced

(90)
Female: Herbal aromas lead to black cherry and a touch oak on the palate. Fresh herbs and teas spice notes add to the complexity of the round and pleasing palate.

Male: The nose is complex. There is an intriguing bit of navel orange leading to guava, blueberry, chocolate, and cola with sage, rosemary, and dried fennel seed accents. Coffee and plum flavors on the palate with a citrus component that is surprising. The acidity is appealing. A good food wine.

So come and join us on January 21, 2012 at Treasure Island. Hurry, tickets are very limited!

Ehret Family Winery

Will miracles never cease? So many of our Ehret Winery friends have asked the question ‘Where can we taste the wines?’. We have been searching high and low for a good tasting room situation for our small winery and have at long last succeeded.

Nestled in the scenic town of Geyserville, just north of Healdsburg and in the heart of Sonoma County is Locals Tasting Room. A classically charming tasting environment featuring not just Ehret but ten other wineries as well. If you haven’t visited Geyserville yet, now is the perfect time to see what you are missing. A short 5 minute drive from Healdsburg, on the Russian River,  Geyserville boasts not  only  wine  tasting  but several of Sonoma County’s top dining destinations. Diavola, featuring salads, sandwiches and gourmet wood smoked pizza and Catelli’s, which was recently featured  on  Guy  Fieri’s  Food Network  show  last  month  and that’s just two. Or stroll down historic main street and visit the shops and galleries or just sit and feel the ‘time-stopped’ quality while absorbing the remarkable views of some of Sonoma County’s most beautiful mountains while munching on local bread and cheese.

Now that summer is almost here, finally, we invite you to come taste all of our current releases including, of course, the beloved dancing boars, Bellarina Meritage 2008 and tour the tiny hamlet of Geyserville.

You’ll be so glad you did and we will keep you posted on any upcoming summer and Fall events at Locals as time goes on. In the meantime have a safe and playful Summer! We look forward to seeing you soon.

Cheers,

Team Ehret

Wake up you sleeping vines! Spring has arrived and it’s time for bud break. It’s what we wait for; the new cycle of growth, the start of the next vintage, the anticipation of the perfect growing season, the Easter Bunny (well maybe not so much the bunny) ….that moment when fantasy morphs gently into reality. With Winter’s hangover behind us it is now time to spring forward and embrace the all that’s new and that includes, wait for it….. The new release of the much anticipated…drum roll please….the one, the only, Vintage 2007 Bella’s Blend!!!

Winner of the coveted Double Gold Award from the very prestigious 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition ! One of only four awarded in it’s class. This is cause for celebration. This is something to smile about. This is something to drink to! And drink for that matter. A perfect melody; a harmonic blend of Cabernet, Cab Franc and Syrah. A true accomplissement maitre! Yup, that Nick Goldschmidt has done it again.

And another new beginning to share with you, and one that we are beyond excited about is the entry of our wines into Geyserville’s most popular tasting room, Locals ! Since tasting rooms are not allowed in our beloved Knights Valley, finding a suitable venue to pour our wines has been an aggravating challenge to say the least. We searched, and we searched some more when finally Dionysus took pity and sent forth this great opportunity. Locals is a unique tasting room that showcases 10 wineries and features over 70 wines. It’s in the town of Geyserville just north of Healdsburg and has become a real tourist destination de force. A small country town in the heart of Sonoma County wine country which, in addition to wine tasting, boasts several of Sonoma County’s best restaurants. As soon as the licensing is complete we will let you know and you can finally taste all of our wines.

So lift up your glasses (not empty ones) and toast, with us, to the onset of Spring 2011! We can finally say we hope to meet you soon (in person).

Cheers and best wishes to you all,

Team Ehret

Seasons greetings to all,

What a year. According to the SF Chronicle’s Sunday Star Cast for Everyone, 2010 was a rough year, haha, ya think? But not to worry 2011 will be stellar! If they say it’s so than it must be true. In reality, for Ehret, it was an amazing year of growth and for this we give our year-end thanks.

We traveled far and wide to many new markets, making new friends in all of them. Spring found us in San Diego, Los Angeles and New York City where of course no one had heard of us. But we spread the word and lots of tastes and the response was phenomenal! In the Fall we traveled to Connecticut to meet our new Distributor ’55 Degrees’ and host a wine dinner and from there we were off to Vancouver, BC, Ottawa and Toronto, where we signed with one of Ontario’s best Importers, Vintage Wines. (But wait, there’s more). Once back home, we were honored to be chosen to pour our Knights Valley wines for the Sonoma County Vintners Sommelier Summit where yet again our quality and story were embraced beyond anything we could have hoped for. And then… the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta with the Meritage Ailliance, (more about them later) where we showed off our 2006 Bella’s Blend much to the Palate Pleasing surprise of many there. (Still not done). Winter upon us, our wines were shipped to Dusseldorf, Germany where they will be presented at what is touted as the ‘Worlds Best’ wine tasting  Prowein! This tasting will be at the end of March following our three city tour in  Canada (Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, where we will be hosted by our new distributor, ‘Fluid Imports’) and then Vancouver, BC at the onset of March. December also found us signing with our new Distributor in Georgia, Quality Wines and Spirits! After the first we will announce the name of our new Indiana Distributor which we are very excited about.(Okay, now we’re done)

Our final noteworthy event in 2010 was the release of our second label ‘Bellarina’! The first in this new line, (with wild boars in TuTus on the label), is an Estate Meritage in a screw cap finish, affordably priced and is just the beginning of our Bellarina Brand. It will be followed with more varietals, including Chardonnay!

But now, here we are, wishing 2010 a fond adieu. The vines are resting after a rather hair raising vintage but the grapes came safely and well to press so it is at this time that we shout out a big resounding ‘Thank you’ and wish all of you a blessed and exciting New Year!

Cheers to all,

The Ehret Family Team

Chill out! There, I said it.

So far the summer here in Knights Valley is absolutely perfect! Although off to a slow start, it is now a classic Sonoma County, picture perfect, ‘I should retire here’ summer. The mornings are touched with gentle fog which burns off in it’s fine form to warm, sometimes hot afternoons and evenings. This is why they call us Sonoma County. The grapes are loving it! If this keeps up (knock on grape wood) it could become one of our best vintages yet!

And, now that Summer has arrived in all her glory (I think it’s a her), it’s time for all things play and chill. It’s up to you to provide the ‘play’ but not to worry, we will provide the ‘chill’ tool by way of an icy cold bottle or twelve of Award Winning Ehret Sauvignon Blanc at a sizzling summer sale price. So be sure to pop over to ‘Our Wines’ and and take advantage of this online sultry summer savings.

Beyond that we here at Ehret Family Winery wish all of you a safe and playful, Sauv Blanc filled summer.

Cheers,

The Ehret Family Winery Team

This event is sold out but if you already have tickets please stop by and see us. This event is also on June 19th, 2010 and promises to be an amazing day of Celebrity Chefs, Wineries, Breweries, et al!

We will have more to announce shortly and in the meantime be sure to check our events calendar under news and events for the other upcoming tastings that we will be participating in .

Beyond that, we wish you a wonderful Summer filled with great food and wine (and maybe a beer or two thrown in for good measure)!

And to all of you, our deepest thanks for your continued support of our young Ehret Family Winery!

Cheers,

The Ehret Family Team

How it got here so fast is truly an enigma wrapped in a conundrum. Here in Knights Valley the grapes are thriving but slowly due to the amazingly cool weather and abundance of rain. It is early yet to know what type of growing year we will have but so far, so good. We will keep you posted.

Synonymous with Summer is of course Events! And Events for us is Synonymous with “Yay, a chance to meet you in person”! Here are two upcoming events for you to come see us:

CigarBQ 2010:

This event will be held in the beautiful Saralee Vineyard. The date is June 19th, 2010 so be sure to put it on your calendars. Wine, Food and for all of you Humidorians Cigars!!

Spring, 2010 sprung a few surprises on us this year in the form of a late frost in Knights Valley. In order to protect the vines two predominant methods are used: Water and Wind. Our neighbors are using wind machines and in this segment we are using sprinklers to wet the vines so that they will freeze. Frost temps are much colder than freezing…Crazy huh?

Check out my interview on MyDailyGrape.com!

With 2009 safely ensconced in the past we can all breathe a sigh of relief. (Phew!) Now with that done it’s time to take a deep breath and charge boldly ahead  into a bright and fresh New Year!

We are very excited here at Ehret Family Winery about all of our ‘near future’ plans for 2010. The vineyards may be resting but we are not! We are locking down our twenty-ten tasting schedules among other things and will have them posted soon but as a heads up in the meantime, mark your calendars for the Family Winemakers of California‘s big upcoming tasting event in Pasadena Tuesday, March 16th. But that’s not all, in addition to this big annual event, FWM has now added a San Diego Tasting! This will be on Sunday, March 14th, very exciting and yes, we will be there!

Please feel welcome to sign our guest book so that as the year unfolds you won’t miss out on all the exciting news and special offers ahead.

All of us here at the winery hope that all of you had a safe and happy holiday season and look forward to spending more adventures with you in the year ahead. And as always, thank you so much for your continued support of Ehret Family Winery!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Ehret Family,

Pierre, Susan, Alex, Christian and (yes, you guessed it) Bella

Here are some videos of our 2009 harvest for both Ehret Family wines and others who use our grapes.

Score: 88

Appealing for its refreshing spicy lime peel, tangerine, melon and green apple notes. Light-bodied and juicy with good intensity through the finish. Drink now. 500 cases made.–MW

Help us celebrate our great write-up in the Wine Spectator by enjoying free shipping on any 6 bottle purchase or more of Ehret Family Winery’s 2008 Sauvignon Blanc anywhere in California and other states where shipping is allowed.

Email susie@ehretwinery.com for more info or to place an order.

We are so excited!!! Our first vintage got 90pts in Wine Enthusiast, right out of the gates.  Here’s what they had to say;

“Knights Valley, an inland Sonoma County region, is not well known, but is home to some impressive Cabernets.  This one, a first release, shows enormous promise.  It’s made in the modern style, slightly soft but richly textured, with ripe currant, cherry, chocolate and new oak flavors that are grounded with an earthy note of olives and herbs.  This is a winery to keep an eye on.” – SH Wine Enthusiast August 2008

Stay tuned for more news from us …

Bavarian Lion Vineyards is the exclusive supplier of grapes to the Ehret Family Winery. So here is a seasonal update of Bavarian Lion Vineyards, that will point to the quality of grapes it will supply to the Ehret Family Winery.

All the buds have been breaking out of all varieties given the warm weather we currently have in Northern California.

The nights have been rather cool, and during several early mornings the freshly flowered butts had to be frost protected. There is always great danger here that the butts will be damaged in those severe weather conditions, but until now Vyborny Vinyard Mgmt has done an excellent job in frost protecting everything. The bright side of the frost is that it continues to kill all bugs, which will be eventually good for the vines. Rainfall is needed so and would do the vineyards good.

But as of now everything is growing and popping up beautifully.

We are looking forward to an excellent harvest with great grape quality, the most important ingredient for the Ehret Family Winery.