As we all know, Father's Day is a very special day where we get to celebrate fathers from generation to generation. What better way to show appreciation than to give the gift of wine to those wine loving fathers. Wine is very cultural and when you drink wine that tells a story it makes the experience all that more special because it creates a connection.
Emblem Cabernet Sauvignon was created by father and son team Michael and Rob Mondavi.
With winemaking roots that extend back four generations, the Mondavi family has helped bring Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to the forefront of the fine wine world. With the single-vineyard Emblem Cabernet Sauvignon, Michael and Rob focused on Napa Valley’s most exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon sub-appellations and vineyards.
The two wines I sampled were the 2006 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2006 Oso Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Unfortunately, the Oso Vineyard Cab was corked, so I'll only be providing tasting notes for the Rutherford Cab. But, first some background information -
2006 Emblem Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon
Rutherford: The grapes for our 2006 Emblem Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested from a single Rutherford vineyard east of the Napa River extending to Conn Creek, in the alluvial fan of the Vaca Range, a place where our family has 25 years of winegrowing experience. The valley floor's warm climate and deep, well-drained soils produce vigorous vines that receive more sun exposure than in other parts of the Napa Valley. To moderate and distribute the sun's heat, the vines are planted in east-west facing rows, and a single-sided ballerina trellising system shades the fruit from intense morning sun. Rutherford historically produces classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon fruit of excellent quality.
Vintage Notes: Napa Valley’s 2006 vintage was marked by an extended growing season, with moderating cool and hot temperature waves, which led to consistently high-quality, abundant crops. Although cool, wet weather in the Spring delayed bloom and set by a few weeks, the vines caught up to a “normal” development pace with a record-setting heat wave in mid-July. A classic Indian summer during the rest of the season allowed growers to maximize the maturity in the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for complex, concentrated flavors without the extremely high sugars found during hot years. The moderate season also held acids high –ideal conditions that contribute to great balance in the wines. Our Rutherford fruit was harvested between October 9 and October 23.
Winemaking: After the grapes were hand-harvested, de-stemmed and crushed, the fermenting juice went through a combination of gentle punch down and cap submersion, and aerative pump-overs with rack and returns in order to keep tannins supple and approachable while limiting the extraction of dusty tannins typical of Rutherford, and maintaining the richness of the fruit. An extended maceration brought us to an average of 21 to 28 days before pressing. The wine was transferred into French oak barrels (66% new) for malolactic fermentation and 22 months of aging, followed by 6 months aging in bottle. Our Emblem 2006 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon is rich, sophisticated and earthy, with concentrated dark berry and cassis aromas, beautifully balanced flavors of dried fruit and currants, and ripe, evolved tannins expressive of Rutherford dust. Its long, smooth finish marries rich fruit with savory, toasted oak tones.
100% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6.2 g/l (0.62%) total acidity; 3.75 pH; 14.3% alcohol by volume
2006 Emblem Oso Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Oso Vineyard: The grapes for our 2006 Emblem OsoVineyard Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested from our family’s OsoVineyard. Planted on slopes rising up from Schwartz Creek, it is nestled between Sugarloaf and Howell Mountains in Napa Valley, where the historic Oat Hill Mine Road begins its ascent over the mountain toward Calistoga. There, the vines grow on beautiful, stone-lined terraces, out of a rocky, porous soil. The high drainage stresses the vines, leading to high flavor concentration. The fruit remains fresh and vibrant throughout the growing season due to mild temperatures –warmer evenings and cooler days than on the valley floor –and afternoon breezes that blow straight down the vineyard rows. From the soil and elevation this mountain fruit extracts intense varietal characteristics, a firm structure, and excellent aging potential.
Vintage Notes: Same as above
Winemaking: After the grapes were hand-harvested, de-stemmed and crushed, the fermenting juice went through a combination of gentle punchdownand cap submersion, and aerativepump-overswith rack and returns in order to keep tannins supple and approachable while maximizing the depth of fruit extraction. An extended maceration brought us to an average of 21 to 28 days before pressing. The wine was transferred into French oak barrels (45% new) for malolacticfermentation and 22 months of aging, followed by 6 months aging in bottle. Our 2006 Emblem OsoVineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is beautifully balanced, with a supple, elegant texture and lush ripe fruit flavors of cherry and blackberry, and subtle oak nuances of chocolate, toffee, and toasted vanilla.
100% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6.5 g/l (0.65%) total acidity; 3.65 pH; 13.7% alcohol by volume
Niche Wine Blog tasting notes - Rutherford Cab - the wine is a nice dark ruby color, moving to light ruby at the rim. It had medium viscosity and medium plus concentration. The nose was clean with aromas of chocolate cocoa, cassis, cinnamon, clove, black cherry and raspberry. The tannins were pretty pronounced, although it had been decanted for over an hour, but it is still a young wine. It was medium bodied and dry, with a very slight hint of fruit forward sweetness. The aromas were confirmed on the palate, the acidity was moderate with a nice long finish. In addition there were wood tones, mainly cedar, coming through along with some mint or eucalyptus. This is a very nice wine and if this one is any indication of quality, I would expect the Oso Vineyard wine to be just as nice.
Here's a link to the winery website that explains where to purchase these wines.
Great posting I hope I remember this for next year! hahaha
Posted by: Napa Wine Loves ME | October 28, 2010 at 06:23 PM