The philosophy of winemaking at Emeritus was brought to us by our first winemaker, Don Blackburn, who unfortunately passed away in 2009, after producing our first five vintages, and establishing the Emeritus winemaking style. Don had studied and received his winemaking degree in France, and learned to make Pinot Noir along the Côte de Nuits in Burgundy for ten years, before bringing his expertise and philosophy to California. Don explains his, and the Emeritus, philosophy of winemaking:
A disproportionately high number of the greatest wines historically, have been Pinot Noir. When Pinot achieves its greatness, there is no wine that can compare with it.
The particular focus of our intent is to make wine that has balance as a characteristic of greater importance than intensity; a wine whose vineyard character is of greater importance than varietal character. Overall, we want to make wine that has a sense of balance a sense of local authenticity; one that encourages the consumer to seek in terms of a holistic experience. It won’t be a wine that will try to knock your socks off, it will be a wine, instead, that will try to seduce you—and make you glad it did.
