Welcome to EMH’s website and the release of “Black Cat” 2010!

August 2012
The 2010 EMH Black Cat Cabernet Sauvignon is our 11th vintage, continuing the line of wine produced from single-vineyard fruit grown right here on EMH's property. On September 29 of 2010 we harvested just 2.2 tons, which yielded approximately 125 cases of Black Cat wine. This is a significant step back from the 175 case production of the 2009, but it is not unusual to have a lighter year follow a heavy year. Twenty-five cases of the 125 were bottled as our second "Special Selection," which was created in response to our mailing list customers' requests to repeat that special bottling.

Our tiny operation produces wine exclusively from Cabernet grapes grown on our less-than-an-acre vineyard, with no additions of purchased fruit. What is in the bottle directly represents what is grown in our vineyard. Most people who taste more than one vintage of EMH's Black Cat are impressed with the consistency of quality and character that emerges from each vintage we produce. We hope you will enjoy the 2010, and that you will discover for yourself what makes the Black Cat so special.

EMH 2010 Black Cat Tasting Notes
Jim Gallagher (Jim Gallagher’s Wine Seminars of San Francisco) offers his notes on the 2010 Black Cat from our July 2, 2012 tasting:

“A bouquet of rich cherry and raspberry, with waves of blueberry, chocolate and rose petal - all within a framework of sweet oak. Medium body, soft tannins – balanced. A rich, long, luscious aftertaste – leaning toward the hedonistic.

The flavor profile is signature and classic, conforming to EMH's philosophy of serving terroir; maximal flavor is teased from the fruit, as opposed to being forced into a template or preconceived character.

The 2010 has voluptuous fruit, similar at this stage to vintages 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009, with the added roundness of vintages 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2009. This wine is perhaps slightly more robust at this stage than all but the 2002, 2003 and 2005.”

For additional information, see detailed tasting notes in our Wine Section.

Notes on Previous Vintages
Many of you ask how the previous vintages are drinking, if we have current notes or comments on the older wines, and if we have any drink-or-hold recommendations on the earlier vintages. You can now access this information in the Wine Section of this website, beneath the original tasting note that was published upon release.  We are very happy to report that all vintages are showing well and are in no danger of decline. If you can resist temptation, the Black Cat definitely improves with age, and is an ideal candidate for cellaring.

Looking Ahead – 2011 and 2012
The 2011 vintage was the most puzzling vintage of the 12 vintages I have farmed here at EMH. The growing season got off to a late start, with cool, rainy weather hanging around much longer into the spring and early summer than is typical. While some growers experienced devastating losses due to poor fruit set resulting from rains during bloom, our weather pattern and rootstock/clone combination spared us. The exception was the portion of the vineyard that is planted to St. George rootstock: those vines experienced greater than normal shatter and actual "fizzle" of some clusters. These are robust vines that normally require some paring down of clusters or green harvest – in 2011 nature took care of that process for us! Very little was actually harvested from this block of the vineyard.

Everything appeared on track, although we measured a very unofficial 18.5 Brix on August 31 – one day after the actual harvest was completed in the very wonderful 2007, which had been harvested at 25.7 Brix. The flavors were excellent for such low sugars, and no alarms were set off in our minds. September was, however, a lesson in frustration, and it tested the patience one must have to endure this grape farming. Great flavors, browning seeds, and very low Brix were observed during September, which was marked by alternating hot and cool temperatures. The Brix went up and then they went down; the flavors increased and then seemed to dissipate. Then, by the final days of September, we hit a string of days where it all seemed to settle out. An October 3rd harvest date was selected, and as this date was selected (based on observation in the vineyard), the weather forecast came in and called for rain.

The first big rain of the season – torrential, really – hit the windshield of my car as I exited the winery, however by that point the year's harvest was safely through crush.

Other wineries have other stories to tell about the 2011 growing season, but ours stops here. The wonderful news is that not a single cluster was lost to the weather, and we have seven beautiful barrels of classic EMH Black Cat tucked away in the winery. The formal lab analysis shows the Brix at harvest to have been 23.3, with a resulting 13.7% alcohol. These numbers are reminiscent of the lovely 2001 Black Cat – a wine I would love to enjoy on more occasions than is possible.

The 2012 growing season is well underway. It seems more typical or normal, whatever that is. We actually had four difficult growing vintages in a row, but the difficulty of the growing season has little to do with wine quality. At least from this site. The clusters are well-formed and plentiful. We have had hot days and cooler days, but it is still too early to call. You have to love this to do this, that much is certain.

So welcome, or welcome back! We look forward to hearing from you.

Enjoy and cheers!

Merrill Lindquist, owner, EMH Vineyards

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