Emerson Brown III Michaels Estate Oakville, Napa Valley 2015 (750ml)

Rated 95 Points by Jeb Dunnuck

 
"Cut from the same cloth (although this cuvee saw 60% new barrels), the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon is bigger and richer, with slightly more oak, charcoal, chocolate and licorice aromas and flavors.  It's a big, rich, unctuous beauty that packs serious fruit and texture, yet holds everything together and is beautifully balanced, savory, and classically styled on the finish.  It too has 15+ years of longevity ahead of it."

 

Rated 92 Points by Vinous Antonio Galloni

 

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon III Michaels Estate is a dark, sensual wine with all of the creaminess and texture that is such a signature of Cabernets from Oakville.  Dark cherry, plum, mocha, spice, new leather, licorice and chocolate build as this voluptuous Cabernet shows off its personality.  The 2015 packs a serious punch.  Drink it over the next decade or so.

 

Keith & Brian

 

Keith Emerson and Brian Brown met at Vineyard 29 in July of 2005.  The two have made wine together from a single vineyard in Oakville continually since.  Keith is going on his thirteenth vintage manning the helm at Vineyard 29, while also crafting small lot Willamette Valley Pinot Noir under his Sonria label.  After 7 vintages with Round Pond, Brian squarely put the RP Estate on Napa Valley’s short list of in-demand wines.  Brian moved to Paso Robles in 2014 to manage ONX Wines.

 

Emerson Brown III Michaels Estate

 

Oakville, Napa Valley

 

Vineyard Designate

 

We hope you enjoy this limited production wine as much as we enjoy making it.  Thank you for your support.  Keith Emerson & Brian Brown

 

            Wine Information

 

Vintage:  2016

 

Varietal:  Cabernet Sauvignon

 

Appellation:  Oakville AVA

 

Alcohol:  14.5%

 

Harvest Date:  October 24, 2015

 

Bottling Date:  April 20, 2017

 

Fruit Processing

 

100% destemmed, whole berry, small lot fermentation utilizing punch downs at beginning and end of fermentation, pumpovers and rack and returns during peak fermentation.

 

Oak Regime

 

60% New French Oak from Taransaud, Ermitage and Baron

 

Vineyard

 

Emerson Brown Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon has been continually sourced from III Michaels Estate, formerly owned by the Brown family.  The vineyard was purchased in 2013 by Bart and Daphne Araujo who have agreed to continue selling the fruit to Emerson Brown.

 

III Michaels Estate, now known as Rancho Pequeno, is located on the Eastern Bench of Oakville.  We love the site because it has great exposure but also cool, heavy soils that help the vines retain natural acidity all the while letting the fruit fully ripen deep, dark, intense flavors.  

 

 

Emerson Brown

 

St. Helena, Ca

 

Wines Connecting People & Places

 

Emerson Brown Collaborations

 

Emerson Brown Collaborations began while working hand in glove at Vineyard 29 during the harvest season of 2005, a vintage marked by an excessively large crop, so big that many wineries turned fruit away at the crush pad.  We did a little horse-trading with growers and the Emerson Brown partnership was born.  We have continually collaborated on Napa Valley Wines ever since.  We hope you enjoy our latest offerings.

 

Keith Emerson

 

Keith Emerson is a Boston native winemaker with more than 18 vintages to his credit.  He is one of the few winemakers who excels at crafting both Bordeaux and Burgundian varieties.  Keith produces wines from Napa, Sonoma, Oregon and Santa Cruz.  Since 2005, he has focused his attention on his position as Director of Winemaking for Napa's Vineyard 29.  His other pursuits are this partnership with Brian Brown, his various consulting gigs, and his personal Oregon Pinot Noir project Sonria Wines.

 

Brian Brown

 

Brian Brown earned his viticulture and enology degree from the University of California, Davis in 2001.  After graduating, Brian worked harvests with Iron Horse Vineyards in Sonoma, Salitage in Pemberton Australia, and Napa Wine Company in Oakville.  Then Brian moved to Trefethen Vineyards as their enologist, where he learned to make balanced vineyard driven wines that express fruit qualities over winemaker manipulations.  He currently lives in Paso Robles and collaborates with Keith Emerson in Napa.

 

Emerson Brown’s Canvas

 

Napa Valley American Viticultural Area

 

When we hatched the Emerson Brown collaboration, we agreed The Napa Valley AVA would be our exclusive playground.

 

Like a favorite park, everyone has their go to ride, the one that whips your lips as the wind blasts your smile.  For us, that's our Vineyard Designate Wine.  Currently, we are featuring III Michael Vineyard in the Oakville sub-AVA for our aptly named Emerson Brown Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

Sampling every source of pleasure in the playground is another joyful expression.  We refer to that broad brush approach as our Vineyard Exploration Project.  Our best interpretation of this hails from different Napa Sub-AVA's depending on which area experienced ideal growing conditions in a particular vintage.  Our popular Emerson Brown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon captures the power and pleasure of every corner in our home playground.