Growing Conditions
2014 was another near-perfect vintage, perhaps surpassing 2013, yielding a crop of concentrated fruit that produced a
intense wine, and should stand out for decades to come. Compared to last year, 2014 produced smaller than average berries,
which means a higher ratio of skins to juice, leading to higher levels of color and tannin. We had one heat spike in late
June/early July, and the weather was generally dry, warm even and consistent throughout the season. We picked the Merlot
the earliest ever, yet still under the most ideal conditions in early September, and expect 2014 will turn out to be yet another
new pinnacle for our Estate - triple back to back stellar vintages for 2012, 2013 and 2014 in our opinion, with 2014 having a
bit of an edge at the moment.
This year’s inagural Merlot is pure Merlot, which yielded just over one barrel.
Vineyard: Pellet Vineyard.
Sold out.
Bottling
Bottled on June 20th, 2016.
Winemaking
We hand sorted our grapes both prior to and after de-stemming, and following a four day whole berry maceration and cold
soak, we began primary fermentation. After nearly three weeks, the wine was gently pressed-off.
Aging
Racked to 100% new
Tarransaud 36 month-aged tight grain French Oak barrels to complete a slow secondary fermentation for another few
months.
21 months, 100% new French Oak