Emeritus Pinot Noir

The other night, Guiseppe and I attended a dinner in New York City hosted by Brice Cutrer Jones, the proprietor of Emeritus Vineyards, of Sonoma California.  Guiseppe is a big fan of pinot noir.  In fact, pinot noir is his red grape of choice.  We have been buying Emeritus wines for several years now and when Brice Jones emailed me the other day to invite us to a wine tasting dinner at the Harvard Club featuring his wines, we graciously accepted.

Brice Cutrer Jones started the Emeritus label in 1999 after selling his stake in Sonoma=Cutrer to Brown-Forman Corporation, the huge conglomerate best known for Jack Daniels whiskey. Sonoma=Cutrer is a big producer of Sonoma chardonnays and pinot noirs in the mid price range.  Brice started Sonoma=Cutrer back in 1973.

Mr. Jones was a very nice man.  In a room full of friends, guests and fellow Harvard Business School alum, Brice talked about how he came to attend Harvard Business School after the Vietnam War, his business career before starting the Sonoma=Cutrer wine label, selling it and creating a new wine brand called Emeritus.  Additionally, Brice talked about grape growing land in California and why the Emeritus sites were so well suited for the pinot noir grape.

Brice Jones

Dinner started with a clam risotto paired with the Emeritus Ruby Ruby rose.  The rose had a strawberry hue and tasted light and pleasant.  It paired well with the clam risotto.  We've always had clam sauce with pasta, but never with risotto.  We were pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was.  It was finished with an extra virgin lemon oil.  Lemon oil?  The lemon finish gave the risotto the perfect lightness, just like a rose.

sea bass

Next, we tasted the Emeritus pinot noir Hallberg Ranch with a sea bass.  The Hallberg pinot was our very first contact we had with the label at the New York Athletic Club years ago.  It was elegant, rich for a pinot noir but had all the hallmarks of a pinot -- minerality, earth, cherries, medium tannins and elegance.  It was the reason I contacted the winery in the first place.

This was followed by duck breast paired with the Emeritus William Wesley pinot noir.  The William Wesley a little fuller than the Hallberg pinot.  It was also smoother.  It seemed more ready to drink than the Hallberg, which I felt had a slight burn in the back palate.  I thought the William Wesley was a nice pairing to the heft of duck.  As a surprise, Brice poured out the Emeritus Don's Block pinot.  This wine was created as an homage to the winemaker, Don Blackburn, who died of cancer by the 2008 vintage.  The new winemaker and the man that worked under Mr. Blackburn, Nicolas Cantacuzene, made this special wine in Don's honor.  It was our first time tasting it and Guiseppe and I felt it was different from the other two.  To us, it tasted more European, if there is such a thing.  It was the most elegant of all three wines.  And of course, it was also the most expensive.  But one sip of Don's Block, sold us on it and we bought some 3-packs.

THANK YOU Brice for the generous invitation and we'll be sure to come out to California for a visit!

Links:
www.emeritusvineyards.com