FATHER AND SON: EMBLEM CABS AND FATHER’S DAY FROM MY PERSPECTIVE

I recently received the new wines from Emblem – the new project from Michael Mondavi and his son, Rob – from Folio Fine Wine Partners. The task was to write a review of these wines for Father’s Day. The story of Emblem wines is very cool and timely; four generations of grape growers and winemakers, from great-grandfather Cesare, to the legendary Robert, to Michael and now young Rob. As in many of the storied wine-producing regions, the story is about family, passing the traditions down from generation to generation, in this case, from father to son.

The task at hand felt odd, in that these were not inexpensive wines. Truth be told, they both retail for around $50 (around $46 in our stores). And compounding the task is my poignant languor toward the day of Father’s Day. Not usually the one to sugarcoat things, my father passed away just over 23 years ago, and his birthday came a week before Father’s Day, so this time of year I tend to get a little depressed.

Instead of getting all woe-is-me though, I chose to use the opportunity to remember the good things about my father, all as I was opening and drinking the Mondavi clan’s latest products.

I was cooking dinner for my wife as I was opening these wines, and I started to remember when my father was alive. Our tastes were fairly simple back then, and we didn’t do a lot of cooking at home. There was a lot of takeout food – McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Domino’s – so it’s no wonder my diet habits are still crappy (particularly at work). Yet it has brought me a strange sense of pride to be able to cook for my wife (and for her to actually like my cooking). And my parents weren’t drinkers of any kind, though I remember a few times when I was really little, my dad kept Michelob Light in the fridge, up until he was diagnosed with Diabetes, and had to stop. When I tell people that my parents didn’t drink, they often ask what got me into wine, and my thoughts take me right back to that dear old Grape Tree behind my house on Woods Drive. It is that place that I will always remember whenever I taste wine, smell wine, or in the case of my job, sell wine.

Michael Mondavi started Emblem with his son beginning in 2006, really not long after the family had sold off the Robert Mondavi wines to megacorp Constellation Brands for a colossal sum of money. As part of the newly-created Folio Fine Wine Partners – a company of Mondavi-owed brands and partnerships with the Frescobaldi family in Italy among others – Michael and his son Robert, were concentrating on what made the Mondavi family name the most revered in all of Napa – tradition.

The one thing I had discovered, after knowing my Dad was sick, was that Chinese food was about the only thing that he could fill up on with his diet. My mom and sister hated the stuff at the time, so that was our time – father and son time – to hang out and talk. My dad wasn’t a sports dad; we didn’t toss the ball around or anything like that. My dad was a very brilliant man, and we’d talk about books, school, you know, academic stuff. I wish we had talked about girls a bit more – I could have used a better perspective in that department – but it was nice to have that time together.

Emblem makes two Cabernet Sauvignon’s: the Emblem Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford 2006 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, derived from a single vineyard plot the runs east from the Napa River to Conn Creek. Aged in predominantly new French oak barrels for 22 months, and having undergone malolactic fermentation, the resultant wine is reminiscent of a classified growth from Pauillac (something like Pichon-Longueville) with earthy, mineral and dark cherry and black currant notes, splashing about with hints of cedar, blackberry, tar, bitter chocolate and black tea. The finish is smooth in the presence of a pleasing grip of full-bodied tannins. The Emblem Cabernet Sauvignon OSO Vineyard 2006 is also 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, coming from the Mondavi family’s OSO Vineyard, located between the Sugarloaf and Howell Mountains in Napa Valley. Softer, prettier and more petite than its sibling, it reveals cherry and currant in the nose and on the palate, with a bit of candied blackberries, some truffle, espresso and cedar smoke. Aged more in neutral French oak barrels, this is more a spiced-up Baked Alaska with the Rutherford being something akin to a Black Forest Cake.

My father died when I was 20 years old, only a month after I had joined the Navy. I didn’t serve long after that, because it never felt right being there. In some ways, I joined to put his mind at ease, being the kid with the unquiet mind and self-destructive tendencies. There are things I wish he could have seen me accomplish, such as finishing college, finding the career I could be happy doing, and most of all, finding a woman who brought me peace and happiness. Yet I still feel his guidance is with me all the time, and in the darkest of days, I can still hear him say, “it’s only going to get better, son.”

I find myself a bit envious of the Mondavi clan, for their love of the earth brought them closer, despite many family struggles. And there passion for both winemaking and family shows in their wines. Yet in spite of that envy, I am grateful to have had my father in my life if only for a short time.

I hope that you can pick up a bottle of Emblem, drink it with your family, remembering all that you may have lost, and all that you still have, being thankful for all of it, accepting the knowledge that no matter how little wine may be left in your glass, your cup is always half-full.