Enzo Wines

are run by a husband wife team, Franco and Francesca. Enzo is named in tribute to Franco’s father; this name also happens to be the name of one of the world’s greatest Ferraris. As a result this wine is very popular in certain Ferrari club circles. It was during his childhood vacations from San Francisco that Franco really fell in love with the Napa Valley. In later years he immersed himself in as much wine making knowledge as possible and attended UC Davis and Napa Valley College for hands on winemaking experience. He bottled his first homemade wine in the late 1980s. Franco was the winemaker for their first commercial vintage in 2003 and continued making the wine for several years until turning over the primary winemaking duties.

Enzo focuses on Cabernet Sauvignon and produces two wines from two vineyards – their Saunders and Tierra Roja Vineyards. They are located in one of the best Cabernet Sauvignon growing regions of the Oakville district in the eastern hills of Napa Valley. Their immediate neighbors are some of the most prestigious wineries in the valley including names such as Dalla Valle, Showket, and Screaming Eagle located slightly to the south. They dubbed this part of Oakville the “Magic Hill”, due to the extremely high quality of fruit produced because of the unique terroir and microclimates in this part of Napa Valley.

Our favorite of the two wines we tasted was the elegant 2003 Saunders Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (blended with Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot). This vineyard is low yielding but the intensely concentrated fruit more than makes up for the low quantities. It has a lot of cherries in the nose with some cocoa and the flavor is very distinctive with a nice long slightly smoky finish. During fermentation, Enzo uses a unique process called “simultaneous co-fermentation” in which the all the varietals are completely blended together starting from crush to yeast injection to fermentation. Their philosophy is that the earlier the components of the wine are integrated together, the better tasting the final product.

A refreshing aspect of their wines is that they are not huge in alcohol percentages; the wines we tasted were in the mid 13′s. Their bottles make a classy show with the black and gold labels and artwork picked from their private Italian collection. Enzo uses corks that are 1/2 inch longer than most corks on the market, which helps ensure that their wines will age well and not have any problem with air intake. They are also very active with a variety of charity organizations. You can find their wines locally at the Dean & Deluca and Enoteca wine shops or visit: www.enzowines.com

NOTE: This review has been archived.
REASON: Stopped producing wine commercially, sold their property and moved out of the county