This is a very personal project for me. You see, I adore music about as much as I love wine. I am also nostalgic for an era when music did not come on a chip, an era before auto-tune, before hi-def, when scratches and skips were a sign of a beloved album played over and over again. Informed by this all-consuming passion, my E11even label is inspired by a vintage concert ticket that I found.
It got me thinking and dreaming and scheming. It got me to here and now. The E11even wines are all Estate Grown and crafted with the utmost care and precision. They truly represent the best that we can do here, on the Curtis Estate in the heart of Los Olivos.
No expense was spared in the farming or the crafting of these stunning wines. In the vineyard, we cherry-picked the best blocks, restricted yields, and used every trick up our sleeves with the singular goal of harvesting the very best fruit that we can grow. In the winery, we took our winemaking efforts to the next level…we took it to 11. We double sorted the grapes to ensure only the best looking berries made it into our fermenters. We aged the wines exclusively in French Oak for 18 months to ensure immense pleasure upon release. The wines are rich and decadent, yet remarkably balanced, pure, and varietally correct. They speak softly of their variety and their origins. They shout, “Drink Me!” These wines exemplify the Natural, Locavore and Farm-To-Bottle movements.
Perhaps the most important thing that I really want you all to understand about our E11even Wines is that they are NOT some kind of second label, or declassified Andrew Murray wines. I think of our E11even wines as an amazing opportunity to show off and share the bounty of our diverse vineyard sites. These are our first wines, not copies or imitations of anything else. These wines are informed by my 30 years of winegrowing in Los Olivos and represent the VERY best barrels that we craft each year.
Some may ask, “Why E11even?” We think we are one better than “10”, always pushing the envelope in order to grow and craft the best wine possible. While others may settle to be a “10”, we strive to be better, we yearn to be an “11”! Oh, and Yes, the name is also inspired by one of my favorite movies, “Spinal Tap”.