The Wine Enthusiast Enthusiasts:
Mary Ellen and Eric Emmerling
House Wine Mountain Merlot
Selected Wine:
Cakebread Cellars Merlot Napa #40136, 750 mL
Reg. price $47.99
A
Perfecta Wine Company
Grown In: Columbia Valley, Washington Taste It: Ripe and lush with juicy plum and berries. Bright and fresh with a long, rich style. Balanced and tangy. Serve It: Recommended with pasta, meats and cheeses.
Visit It: www.preceptwine.com Buy It: $12.99, sale: $8.99 #27876, 750 mL Please drink responsibly
s someone who works with numbers for a living, Mary Ellen Emmerling says it’s critical to know one’s product. So when she began a job as the comptroller at the New Hampshire Liquor Commission a few years ago, she took it upon herself to learn as much as possible about wine. “There was such excitement at the Commission about the products and what we can do for the people around the state,” she says of her wine education. “And the way it often complements my husband’s cooking is also exciting.” For Eric Emmerling, her husband of 37 years and a writer, wine is a way to connect with generations of history and tradition. It appeals to the storyteller in him. “You can look at it, smell it, taste it, eat something and taste it again,” Eric says. “You can have four to five different experiences in one glass of wine. “My mind and my palate opened up to the idea that what’s contained in a bottle of wine can be 400 years of history and nature and craftsmanship in one bottle. I get caught up in it. We once spoke with a winemaker in France and it struck me that some of the roots of those vines are 300-400 years old and how they connect families and history and generations. It ties in with a lot of what I love in life: a good story and family. So many vineyards go back hundreds of years. A father teaches his children the trade and they teach it to their children.” Mary Ellen, who likes to sew, read and is an avid swimmer, joined her husband (who professes to be “smitten” with their granddaughter) on a trip to visit their own daughter in Spain when she studied abroad. It’s there the couple discovered a whole new world of wine. “We went to Spain and found that the wines there taste a lot different,” Eric Emmerling says. “We went to Italy for four to five days, as well, and tried different wines. The idea that one grape can be so much different from another is intriguing. One winery can pick the same merlot grape and change it in so many different ways to make it taste different.” Mary Ellen and Eric embraced their enthusi-
asm, and began keeping a notebook of wines they’ve tasted over the years. The latest: a 2013 Cakebread Cellars Merlot Napa. The fruit that serves as the backbone of this wine comes from Suscol Springs Vineyard – an estate vineyard at the southern end of Napa Valley. The first step for the Emmerlings: decide what to pair it with. Eric stepped up and prepared a charcoalgrilled flatiron steak with Roquefort butter, baked polenta layered with creamed spinach and mushrooms alongside green beans sauteed in sesame oil. “I wanted to create something that had a lot of different flavors to see how the wine would stand up,” Eric Emmerling says. Spoiler alert: It stood up perfectly. As they decanted the wine, the two initially noticed it was particularly dark colored. (“Almost the color of eggplant,” Mary Ellen says.) “At the beginning it had a cherry scent to it with some plum flavors,” Eric says. “After we began to eat and the wine opened up even more, it brought an earthiness to the taste. Not a dark or heavy flavor, but a mineral, springtime lightness.” The Cakebread Merlot took on different characteristics as it opened, including hints of cranberry and elements that enhanced the cheese flavors. “It had a cleansing feeling in the mouth,” Eric says. “It was almost more explosive than other merlots in some ways. The fruity taste just walloped me.” The tannins flourished on the finish, which the Emmerlings described as being “really long.” As the meal disappeared and the wine glasses emptied, the couple discovered that the wine hit every one of their requirements in an excellent wine. A perfect bottle for when visitors arrive or when an occasion calls for a slightly more extravagant taste, the couple agreed wholeheartedly that the Cakebread Merlot was “an excellent value.” “I’d love to have this if we had company over,” Eric says. “Especially if it’s someone who loves wine. They would definitely appreciate it.”
L i quoran d Wi n eOut let s. com • march 2017 | 19