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Wine Ink: Emmolo wines from (and for) the next generation

Kelly J. Hayes
Wine Ink
The Wagner and Emmolo families have a long history of stewardship of Napa Valley vineyards.
Special to the Daily |

Under the influence

Emmolo 2014 Merlot and Emmolo 2015 Sauvignon Blanc: From rich and ripe to lean and clean, it is interesting to taste these two wines side by side. Both are made to appeal to palates that like to pair their wines with food. The Merlot is a great choice for hearty stews and grilled meats with big flavors of chocolate and a touch of earth and smoke. The savvy is a wine for seafood and shellfish. Nearly as clear as water in the glass, the wine has enough weight and texture to be a great food wine. These wines will no doubt evolve in vintages to come, but they already show the skills of a young winemaker.

In much of the “Old World,” that would be Europe, wine families have legacies and traditions that span both centuries and generations. Not so much here in America.

So it was interesting to have a conversation with Jenny Wagner, the winemaker of Emmolo (pronounced em-oh-low) wines, a winery project that produces Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc in the Napa Valley, and hear about an emerging American wine family legacy.

“I am the seventh generation of my family to live here in the Napa Valley,” Jenny said with obvious pride. “Members of my father’s family came here from Missouri in 1857 and my mother’s family came to Napa from Sicily a little later, in 1923.”



It must be noted that Jenny is a Wagner, the third child of Chuck Wagner, patriarch of one of the most successful and respected winemaking families in America and the co-founder of Caymus.

THE WAGNER FAMILY OF WINE



The wines of Caymus Vineyards, first introduced in the early 1970s by Charles (Charlie) and Lorna Wagner along with their son, Chuck, are California classics. The Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Special Selection was named Wine Spectator Wine of the Year two times, with both the 1984 and 1990 vintages receiving the honor.

No other wine in the 40-year history of the publication has been named twice. Caymus is the heart and soul of the Wagner Family of Wine, which has grown to include the Conundrum, Mer Soleil and Red Schooner brands, all overseen by Jenny’s brother Charlie, along with Emmolo.

While the family heritage was built on the back of Cabernet Sauvignon, Jenny and Charlie Wagner are building their own legacies with different grapes sourced from different appellations. It is part of a diversification strategy that has allowed them to put their own stamp on their unique and individual winemaking careers while working together in the family business.

“Dad has always inspired us to keep trying new things,” said the 29-year old Jenny Wagner of her iconic winemaker father, Chuck. “It’s always been an ongoing adventure and this is my opportunity with Emmolo to create something new and exciting.”

For Jenny, the excitement comes from making Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc in two diverse winemaking styles.

THE WINES OF EMMOLO

Emmolo Merlot, which is grown in the Oak Knoll appellation, is ripe, rich and concentrated. “It’s just the way I like it. The wines are all about balance, with soft tannins and structure being equally important,” Jenny said of her Merlot, which hails from a pair of family owned vineyard sites, one of which had its genesis on her mother’s side of the family, and the second of which is now owned and farmed by her father’s side.

Jenny’s second wine is a Sauvignon Blanc made in a clean and lean style that best reflects the terroir of the Emmolo vineyards in Rutherford and Oak Knoll. “I’m not a big fan of herbaceous or ‘green’ Sauvignon Blanc,” she said. “I like a lighter style that is crisp and has firm acidity,” she noted when explaining the very different style she uses in approaching her white wine as opposed to the bigger Merlot. Emmolo made a combined total 30,000 or so cases of the 2014 Merlot and the 2015 Sauvignon Blanc in the most recent release, a substantial number for a relatively young winemaker.

Of course, it was inevitable that Jenny would follow in the family craft. “Yeah, it was never really a question,” she said. “I always wanted to become a winemaker.”

Growing up in the Napa Valley, she attended the local schools before matriculating to study business at the University of San Diego. She returned to the Valley and went to work learning the skills of wine production as “an assistant to the assistant” on the Caymus winemaking team.”

A TRADITION TAKES HOLD

In 1994, Jenny’s mother, Cheryl Emmolo, had introduced the Emmolo label with the intent of carrying on the family name and wine tradition that dates to 1923, when Frank Emmolo, Jenny’s grandfather, first came to Napa from Italy.

While the Emmolo family made wine, they were perhaps best known for creating a successful business that provided grapevine rootstock to the other winemakers in the valley. To this day wines are still made from grapes grown on that stock.

When an opportunity came about around four years ago for Jenny to take the reins of Emmolo, she jumped at the chance. “The timing was right,” she explained. “We were pretty confident that we could make a great wine with the right site, low yields, and great soils.” That she has.

As our American wine tradition is still in its relative infancy, it is exciting to see, and taste, the wines of emerging generations and legacies. Especially when it comes from a pair of families with a rich history in the Napa Valley.

Kelly J. Hayes lives in the soon-to-be-designated appellation of Old Snowmass, Colo., with his wife, Linda, and black Lab named Vino. He can be reached at malibukj@aol.com.


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