2013 Emerson Brown Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Parker’s 100pt Napa Valley Avalanche:
No Kool-Aid at Emerson Brown

Robert Parker’s vintage report of October 2014 set the stage for what many are now calling the most anticipated Napa Valley release in recent history. The Wine Advocate wrote of the stupendous 2013 Cabernet Sauvignons:

“The 2013s are powerful, rich and, in many cases, as powerful in terms of alcohol strength and extract levels as their counterparts in 2012. They just present themselves as a crisper, fresher, slightly more restrained and reserved style of wine. It is not surprising to hear comparisons to 2001.”

Then the most influential critic the wine world has ever known let loose with the most extraordinary 100-point avalanche in the history of The Wine Advocate. Fifteen Napa Valley Cabernets earned 100-point scores, sending release prices through the roof.

Again, Mr. Parker chimed in:

“As for prices, Napa, like Bordeaux, seems to get whatever they want in price. Still, there’s no question that some of the newcomers who want $150 for their first releases are probably unrealistic as well as greedy. Yet more often than not, the quality supports the high prices. Will this pricing come back to haunt some of the less established and fledgling wineries that are trying to establish world-class reputations, but are starting off by pricing their wines at extremely high levels? The market, as always, will dictate whether they can get away with it, but as a wine critic commenting only on the quality, these are two very, very exciting vintages that will provide enormous pleasure over the next three decades. Readers who can afford the entrance fees will love these wines — make no mistake about that!”

At a time when far too many young brands are hopping on the Napa Valley bandwagon, raising prices almost indiscriminately, one of the most talented winemaking teams in the valley has opted not to drink the Kool-Aid — making the Emerson Brown Cabernet Sauvignon one of the most captivating bargains of 2013.

Keith Emerson spends his days fashioning 95- to 97-point powerhouses off Chuck McMinn’s Aida and 29 Estate vineyards at Vineyard 29. For years, Brown authored critically acclaimed vintages across the way at Round Pond. But if you were to ask either winemaker to name a vintage in the last 15 years that measures up to 2013, the answer you’ll get is the same as what’s being echoed up and down the Silverado Trail: There isn’t one.

The 2013 Emerson Brown Cabernet Sauvignon is drawn from three handpicked sites, including III Michaels Estate Vineyard, now the Araujo Home Vineyard in Oakville. Opaque purple in hue, infused with lavish aromas of crushed black fruits, black cherry, and black raspberry, tinged with sweet spice, bracketed by a gentle dose of new-wood cedar. Rich, dense, and weighty on the attack, but like all of Parker’s top 2013s, still finely cut. High-toned and light on its feet, finishing with ripe, dusty tannins, perfectly offsetting the phenomenal opulence of the vintage. Pop a cork now if you must or, far better, lay one of the top bargains of the vintage down until at least 2020. This one could surely use the shuteye.

A drop-dead bargain at $50 from the winery. Like STEALING this morning for just $34. Shipping included on 4.