  Since April 2000, a program using the ESO/VLT/UVES to search for early
circumstellar signatures from nearby supernovae has been conducted. Until now,
two Type Ia supernovae have been observed, SNe 2000cx and 2001el. Here we
report on preliminary results for SNe 2001el, and we discuss how the
observations can be used together with detailed modeling to derive an upper
limit on the putative wind from the progenitor system. For a hydrogen-rich wind
with velocity 10 km/s, the mass loss rate for the progenitor system of SN
2001el is less than 1O^{-5} solar masses per year.
