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2020 Merlot
Tasting Notes
The 2020 Merlot displays flavors of boysenberry, raspberry, cherry, vanilla and mocha with a long-balanced finish. For tasting notes and more information.Winemaker Notes
Merlot has had a bad rap of late, but it is the backbone of many of the world’s great wines, and is a key component of our flagship wine, our Wisdom of Wise. Due to demand from our fans, in 2016 we decided to release a single varietal Merlot, and have brought it back again in 2017, 2018 and 2019 after rave reviews. The 2020 vintage had a hot summer with a cool fall, allowing the Merlot to reach full ripeness slowly while retaining fresh fruit & acidity. The grapes are cold soaked and fermented with whole and crushed berries at cold temperatures, to achieve a partial carbonic maceration and maximize fruit-forward aromatic expression, while maximizing color and tannin extraction. These techniques result in a vibrant fruit profile and lighter tannins. After fermentation, the wines are left on the skins for an extended maceration to ensure full extraction of flavor and tannin from the skins before pressing and being transferred to barrel on 100% full lees. This mix of techniques allows the maximum expression of fruit, spice, and lees aromas to produce an intense wine displaying the best qualities of these grapes and vineyards. This wine was aged in oak barrels, 35% new, a mixture of French and American oak, for 22 months, to balance and elevate the wines. The wine was aged on the yeast lees and stirred (batonage) monthly to extract a rich mouthfeel.Awards
Silver; SF ChronicleWine Profile
| Vintage | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Wine Style | Red Wine |
| Varietal | Merlot |
| Appellation | Sierra Foothills |
| Sugar | 24.4 Brix |
| Acid | 6.1 g/L total acidity |
| PH | 3.56 pH |
| Aging | 35% new French & Minnesota oak and maple wood, 65% neutral oak for 22 months on full sur lies contact with monthly stirring |
| Fermentation | 14 day fermentation with punch downs, 5 day extended maceration |
| Alcohol % | 13.2 |
| Size | 750 ml |
Award Winning Wines in Lincoln, California