Emmolo 2018 Napa Merlot

Emmolo carries on a family tradition dating back to 1923, when my great-grandfather Salvatore Emmolo immigrated from Italy to Rutherford, Napa Valley. He bought property that remains in the family to this day and started a grapevine rootstock nursery that became the leading supplier to Napa Valley growers. My mother, Cheryl, has no brothers and dreamed of keeping the Emmolo name alive by starting a wine label using family vineyards. She launched Emmolo in 1994 and handed the reins over to me in 2011. Most of our grapes are still grown on family property, and my grandparents, Frank and Annie, still live in Rutherford — where they sit on their porch keeping an eye on the vines.

Merlot is a variety that requires hands-on manipulation in the vineyard — including crop thinning throughout the growing season — to make a rich, concentrated wine. My goal is to create a well-balanced Merlot with superbly rich fruit and soft tannins. I'm passionate about Merlot's potential, and nothing makes me happier than when people tell me that Emmolo helped them see Merlot in a new light. Grapes for this wine are sourced from Oak Knoll, which includes two family vineyards, one of which my grandfather Frank Emmolo purchased in 1972. On an average summer day, Oak Knoll is about 7 degrees cooler than Rutherford, allowing for a longer "hang time" than in warmer areas, which means that we can push the grapes to full ripeness.

Alcohol: 14.1%

92 POINTS - "The 2018 Emmolo Merlot packs plenty of ripe fruit and oomph on the palate. This is a generous & appealing wine. Its aromas and flavors offer a bounty of black fruit and oak." - Wilfred Wong

90 POINTS - "This slightly opaque and medium ruby colored Merlot opens with a strawberry licorice bouquet with hints of birch beer. cherry compote and cedar. On the palate, this wine is full bodied, balanced, round & velvety. The flavor profile is a Devil’s food chocolate cake and cherry blend with notes of concentrated blueberry. We also detected hints of dried strawberry & gentle graphite. The finish is its well-managed medium tannins stick around for a while." - Ken's Wine Guide

Grapes for this wine were sourced from Napa Valley’s Oak Knoll district, which includes two family vineyards. The area’s cooler weather, along with crop thinning and gravelly light soil, creates ideal conditions for producing a rich, distinctive Merlot. This wine is lush and supple on the palate, with expansive, dark berry flavors, a fresh earthiness and smooth, leathery tannins.