Nose
This wine is not shy: heady notes of bright blue fruit burst forth before even lifting the glass.
Palate
Blueberry, blackberry and dark black cherry notes saturate the palate, revealing a thick, dense wine with plenty of stuffing and a bit more weight and extraction than our lovely 2009.
Growing Conditions
Merlot is a grape variety prone to "shatter," or incomplete pollination of its flowers, which is something that actually helps with concentration in the finished wine due to the enhanced exposure of the grape skins to the sun and air.
A light shatter in 2010 due to spring rains, combined with some additional mid-season crop thinning once the shoots stopped growing, made a lighter-than-average crop that was able to ripen to perfection.
Napa
Sonoma
Sold out.
Harvest
In 2010, harvest ranged from October 18th for our earliest block of Merlot to November 6th for the latest, with the majority picked during the last eight days of October. The final blend incorporates 10% cabernet sauvignon from our Rock Arch and Carolyn's vineyard blocks.
Bottling
Bottled: April 2012.
Winemaking
Fermentation: Stainless steel.
Aging
French oak.
