Reviews of Ten Sisters and Emblem

Last Friday the baby-sitter bailed on me last minute, so my plans to meet the WWP staff with wine samples at Charlie Palmer Steak (they offer free corkage on Fridays) were scratched. Plan B: When I informed my wine-loving neighbor Scott I had 3 bottles to review, he said he had 4 steaks to review and that he and Shannon would be over shortly. I had been eager to try the first wine, Ten Sisters Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, since meeting Ellie Stables earlier this year. Ellie is the daughter of sister #6, and now leads the winery’s sales and marketing efforts. She told me to prepare to taste a “high-end” Sauvignon Blanc, one that belongs on the country’s best restaurant wine lists. I was excited about that prospect, having recently caught a bit of Sauvignon Blanc fever after sampling Dagueneau’s Pur Sang and the most recent release from Cloudy Bay, which many consider the benchmark for NZ whites. The label is classy: Pressed silver logo on raised card stock. I served the chilled wine with a plate of baguette topped with tapenade and shaved parmesan. The wine showed a fresh golden-green color and gave off aromas of cut grass and straw, dominating some underlying citrus. The first sip revealed crisp and refreshing acidity and even more citrus (a hint of ruby red grapefruit). There was more; the wine placed compelling weight on my tongue, and I then noticed layers of additional flavors of toast, herb and hints of starfruit and coconut. Thinking the wine was definitely worth the $40 price tag, I was shocked when Ellie told me two days later I had the price wrong; it retails for $15. At that price, this should be your wine for the rest of summer.

Steak time, and the next two wines had gone into the decanter right before Scott and Shannon arrived with the steaks and a back-up bottle of 2004 Turley Duarte Vineyard, just in case. I received these bottles of Emblem Oso Vineyard and Emblem Rutherford from the marketing rep, who suggested the wines would be great for Father’s day as they were made by the father-son team of Michael Mondavi and Robert Mondavi, Jr. They were definitely great for the Friday night before Father’s day. I served the wines simultaneously for comparison sake, and I think we all agreed immediately that these wines shared far more differences than similarities. The 2006 Emblem Oso Vineyard was inviting and approachable, with loads of bright red cherries and vanilla. The soft tannins provided a flexible structure that matched perfectly with both the steak and the cheesy potato gratin we were eating. The 2006 Emblem Rutherford was a much taller order. The deep dark fruit in this wine’s nose warned me that this wine was way too young to be opened now. It is dark, chewy and firm with a backbone crafted by fruit that is distinctly Rutherford style. While the Oso Vineyard was open to all senses, the Rutherford was still zipped up even after an hour in the decanter. Both wines were big, maybe even bigger than the sub-$50 price tag suggests. The Oso is ready now, and the Rutherford will pay dividends in 5-10 years.