Labry Wines

Labry Wines. Labry is pronounced La-bree. Standing slightly elevated looking over a sea of vines, one quickly has a sense of this place and its viticulture history. Merely 4.2 acres, this tiny part of the extended and coveted vineyard patchwork in southern Rutherford finds its pedigree not only in its prime terroir but also through its iconic neighbors. Robert Mondavi and the northern edge of Oakville is located slightly to the south of the property, Staglin Vineyards to the west and Bella Oaks and Inglenook within an easy view, both short distances to the north. The nearby Mayacamas mountains are so close it almost seems like one can reach out and touch them from the property. The soils here are deep and composed of a material brought down from the mountains by a wider alluvial fan and include old volcanic rocks and ash.

It is estimated the vineyard dates back decades; it was farmed until 1995 by David Abreu. More recent records show the vines were replanted entirely to clone 7 of Cabernet Sauvignon in 1998 by Mark and Linda Neal. Today the vines are managed by Pete Richmond and Silverado Farming Company. And in 2025 the vineyard was entirely replanted to two clones of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Proprietors Ed Labry III and his wife Kim initially began looking for hillside more remote locations in Napa Valley, but as Ed says, “we were blessed with a daughter” and so they decided to look for property on the valley floor closer to town. Strongly connected to Memphis, Ed’s father Edward Jr., worked for more than 30 years at Metropolitan Life Insurance and served more than 30 years in various positions at Ducks Unlimited including serving on the board of directors for that company. He was also President of the National Wild Turkey Federation in Tennessee for three years. The 2022 vintage of Labry Cabernet Sauvignon was made in his honor.

Ed joined the Memphis debit company Concord EFS INc., in 1984 and later served as the company President. This vertically integrated electronic transaction processing firm was listed publicly on the NASDAQ. It was acquired by First Data Corporation in 2003; after the acquisition, he became Vice Chairman of the company and for one year, CEO. He was an integral part of the company’s success; during his time as CEO the company employed over 1,000 people, primarily in Memphis.

Along with two partners he co-founded Locally Global Investments, a national real estate investments firm. And today he is the Chairman and CEO of Memphis based LB Technology Inc., a fleet services and management software provider. This is not his first experience with the trucking industry; in 1999 he was elected to the board of directors for M.S. Carriers, a Memphis based trucking firm that a year later was purchased by and merged with Swift Transportation.

In 2002, Labry Hall, a 50,000 square foot building housing classrooms, computer labs, a lecture hall, a number of faculty offices and an atrium gathering space, was built at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. This building is home to Edward A. Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business. It was constructed through a donation from Labry, an alumni from the class of 1985. The hall preserved some of the gymnasium, originally built in 1936. This private university was founded in 1842 and was nearly destroyed some two decades later when the Confederate army burned most of the campus to the ground during the Civil War. It was rebuilt, with its resulting nickname appropriately chosen as the phoenix.

And this is not the only educational support Labry has provided. In 2005 he gifted a generous donation to Hutchinson, the Memphis based all-girls private school. In recognition of this, the school opened Labry Hall in 2006 for grades 9-12. This building houses offices, a lecture hall and counseling services. We have visited both of these halls; see our photographs at the bottom of this article.

Ed has known Rutherford ‘neighbors’ Garen and Shari Staglin proprietors of Staglin Family Vineyard for many years; it was the Staglin’s who helped them locate this particular property. This site is located on Bella Oaks Lane just west of Highway 29. Their wine portfolio is based on each of their preferences; for example, Ed enjoys Cabernet Sauvignon and Kim, Pinot Noir. They mutually decided to produce a Sauvignon Blanc.

The Labry wines are always 100% varietal, sourced from single blocks each year within specific vineyards. Regardless of year, these wines always tell the story of the variety, the site and vintage. They are balanced from the get go, but are always ageworthy.

The Labry’s purchased this property in 2016. Previously grapes from the site had been sold to Pine Ridge, Opus One and Rombauer Vineyards and most recently to Vineyard 29. After Ed and Kim purchased the site, they were able to buy back some barrels of wine from Rombauer and finish the winemaking at a nearby winery; 2016 was the first commercial release bottled under the Labry label.

For reference, there are several other Napa Valley based wine brands or wineries with strong Tennessee connections, primarily from Memphis and Nashville. These are: Cornerstone Cellars, wineries under the Gaylon Lawrence collection, Revelette and Rockmere.

Winemaker
Keith Emerson is originally from Boston and was planning to attend culinary school to become a chef when he came across an article mentioning the possibility of going to school to learn wine making. This sparked his interest, so he moved to California, attended UC Davis and ultimately graduated with a degree in Fermentation Science with an emphasis on Enology and Viticulture.

After graduating, Keith came to Napa and worked his first harvest at Cakebread. From there he worked at Gundlach Bundschu winery (the oldest continuously operating family-owned winery in the state of California) in neighboring Sonoma County (Keith is currently their Executive winemaker). And later a wine maker friend referred him to a position at Vineyard 29 in St. Helena. Today Keith is the Director of Wine making at Vineyard 29 where he also crafts the Labry wines.

Select Wines
Rosé
The inception for this wine was during the fires of 2020. That year the wine was a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. It has since transitioned to Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley.

The 2024 Labry Wines Rosé of Pinot Noir, Boats ‘N Hoes Russian River Valley is 100% varietal; this wine is an attractive pale salmon in color. The open-knitted bouquet features aromas of raspberries, strawberry guava, pomegranate, and red currant. And a light chalk character. It holds its aromatics exceptionally well even when extremely chilled. Bright across the palate; this wine is buoyed by its refreshing but balanced acidity. It tastes like raspberry, lime, ruby grapefruit, watermelon and white peach. Minerally. The wine lingers fresh, energetic and mouth watering. Gorgeous. Its texture complements its acidity nicely, sporting a light rounded and satiny texture. This wine was exposed to the skins for about an hour before being pressed, hence its light color. Over the first few years they have dialed in the amount of time on skins. As Ed says, you don’t need an excuse to drink this wine; serve it cold on a warm spring or summer day, at a BBQ or at a beach. But in reality, we want to drink this on Catalina Island.

Sauvignon Blanc
Through Keith’s connections their first Sauvignon Blanc from 2017 was sourced from a vineyard in Calistoga. Moving forward for subsequent vintages, the source of the grapes for this wine are from the Ashe Vineyards in Oakville; the first time we discovered wines from that vineyard was at a Taste of Oakville event at Robert Mondavi Winery where these were among the few Oakville grown white wines represented at that particular tasting.

One of the Labry’s favorite Napa Valley Sauvignon Blancs is produced by Lail Vineyards. And it was Lail’s winemaker Philippe Melka who trained Emerson in producing exceptional wines from this variety. The Labry Sauvignon Blanc is consistently made each year including its battonage profile, oak aging and is always bottled unfiltered.

The 2023 Labry Sauvignon Blanc is medium gold in color; its aromatics include beeswax, honeycomb, golden apples, a light bruised apple character, papaya and not fully ripe crane melon (a Sonoma County favorite). Minerally and layered, let this wine evolve both in terms of oxygen exposure and temperature and you will continue to be rewarded. Despite its nearly 2 years in barrel, the oak is a complementary and light supporting character. On the palate there are flavors of golden apples, honey, stone fruits including yellow nectarine, tangerine, pineapple and champagne mango. The mouth feel is rounded but one doesn’t notice its textural feel as its weight is offset nicely by a brightly lit, refreshing and balanced acidity. Mouthwatering. In a blind tasting against other Napa Valley Sauvignon Blancs from this vintage we might have a hard time identifying the variety.

The 2018 Labry Sauvignon Blanc sees extended oak aging, up to 22 months; this wine is aged sur lie and stirred at certain intervals for the first 3 months and then left to age before being racked to tank and then bottled. Medium golden in color this wine shows a beautiful diversity of aromatics including initially floral notes, jasmine, honeysuckle, citrus blossom and hints of pineapple. Letting the wine evolve further – while still cold in the glass, reveals more tropical notes including banana, mango and papaya along with cantaloupe. Noticeable is the texture; there is no sharpness whatsoever as the wine glides across the palate smoothly. Notes of mandarin, a minerally character, followed by a hint of vanilla on the finish. A generous offering, certainly respective of a warmer site, yet still balanced and complemented by a brightness of acidity.

Pinot Noir
The 2023 Labry Pinot Noir is medium to deep ruby in color; straddled somewhere between elegant, ripe and floral, the bouquet smells like violets, lavender and lilacs with its fruit layers including dark raspberry, blueberry and Santa Rosa plum skin. Additional scents include crushed pink peppercorn, library book and a hint of licorice. Its aromatics are highly attractive. On the palate there are flavors of red cherry, blueberry and licorice – it finishes with a note of white pepper. And some noticeable texture. We like that. The feel of many California Pinot Noirs bleed out the inherent varietal texture due to over ripeness. Savory. Lingers with gravelly textured tannins which outpace the fruit on the finish and linger with a light chalky feel. Ripe but brightly lit, this wine smells and tastes like Pinot Noir. Kim and Keith always oversee the blending sessions together.

The 2019 Labry Russian River Pinot Noir is from the Martin Ray Vineyard (a historic site that Keith works closely with). Medium ruby in color offers some floral notes on the bouquet including dried rose petal, violets, raspberry, and hints of red licorice. And as the wine breathes further, the aromatics show more sweetness of fruit including a dessert spice influence. Offers a lovely tension across the palate with a very pleasing texture. Flavors of red cherry and hints of tea leaf are complemented by silky smooth and rounded tannins with some subtle lingering earth notes. The tannins are nicely integrated into the finish – this wine is superbly balanced. Aged 11 months in 40% new, 60% once used Burgundy French oak barrels.

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2022 Labry Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and opaque; you can smell the site as the aromatics from the property are distinctive and consistent from year to year. This wine smells like dark plum, black cherry, boysenberry, blackberry, Pakistani mulberry, suede, clove, white pepper, and old cedar. Highly flavorful, the bouquet offers flavors of dark cherry, blackberry, boysenberry, Persian mulberry and dark cocoa powder. A bit riper than the 2021, this wine showcases loads of fruit both on the bouquet and the palate. Texturally this wine is approachable early on with rounded, dusty and seamlessly integrated tannins. Their presence lingers with a light drying character. This wine is highly enjoyable right out of the gate.

The 2021 Labry Cabernet Sauvignon; this wine is deep ruby and opaque. The nose is darkly fruited; its scents include plum, black cherry, boysenberry and black berry with additional layers of black olive, red chili spice, violets, lilac, lavender, dried sage, old cedar box and an all-spice. As the wine evolves its fruit becomes more expressive. Fresh, exciting and with plenty of energy, the palate sings four years post vintage. Its flavors include dark cherry, plum, dark currant and blackberry. The finish lingers with a density of tannins, but they are not edgy or course, rather their texture is rounded with a persistent chalky character. Savory. Bright. Each year the focus is on producing an approachable Cabernet Sauvignon with complexity and layers and crafted to appeal to a wide variety of palates. This wine certainly showcases that attribute, even from a vintage in Napa Valley that produced wines of stature.

The 2018 Labry Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is medium to dark ruby in color with appealing aromatics including tobacco leaf, hint of smoke, black olive, and darker fruits including plum and black cherry. One can also smell the varietal characteristics on the bouquet with dried herbs, very subtle hints of green pepper and sage. Nice aromatic character – certainly can be picked out of a lineup against more fruit forward Napa cabs. Balanced across the palate with a pleasing integration of acidity and tannins on the finish. Lingers with somewhat dusty, almost chalky tannins and a brightness of red fruits. Was aged 22 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Every year the back label of their Cabernet Sauvignon features highly personalized quotes or poems. The one we connected with the most was the 2022 vintage. It is a poignant poem passed on generationally from father to son. It reads:

Your Name
“It came from your father,
it was all he had to give.
So it’s yours to use and cherish,
as long as you may live.
If you lose the watch he gave you,
it can always be replaced.
But a black mark on your name son,
can never be erased.
It was clean the day you took it,
and a worthy name to bear.
When I got it from my father,
there was no dishonor there.
So make sure you guard it wisely.
After all is said and done,
You’ll be glad the name is spotless
when you give it to your son.”

Only two Reserve bottlings of their Cabernet Sauvignon have been produced to date – once in 2021 and again in 2023. This extremely limited bottling is aged for 30 months in new French oak barrels. And the image on the label is that of a labrys ax. Labrys is the Lydian word for the double-bitted axe, an instrument that dates back to 3000-1450 BCE in Minoan Crete.

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And through a Lake County producer, Labry bottles and brands their own olive oil. Production is currently around several hundred cases of wine a year with plans to grow this slightly. The wines are not distributed and are sold entirely through their mailing list.

The property is private and does not host visitors. The handsome barn on the property houses a beautiful piece of metal art featuring the American flag. It was created by Ed’s first cousin, the talented artist and metalsmith Ben Caldwell, based in Nashville.

The wines are primarily sold to members although locally, ACME Wine Shop in St. Helena has carried select bottlings. For more details, to purchase wines or to join their ‘no rules wine club’ featuring customizable releases twice a year during the spring and the fall, visit: www.labrywine.com

Labry Hall, Cumberland University, Lebanon