Palate
Ripe black cherry, currant and roasted coffee bean aromas and flavors are framed in a structure similar to a great Cabernet Sauvignon which variety constitutes 7% of this blend. While enjoyable in its vibrant youth, this fine Merlot will bottle age gracefully well beyond ten years.
Growing Conditions
The 1999 Merlot crop enjoyed a late ripening season blessed with beautiful moderate weather, providing ideal conditions for the fruit to enjoy a long hang time on the vine. Immense structure and intense flavor developed in the fruit and were extracted into the wine cuvees.
Harvest
Harvested: Oct. 1999
Bottling
Bottled; April 2001.
Winemaking
Fermentation: Stainless steel.
Aging
The character of select French oak cooperage was imparted over a period of eighteen months to provide a balance to the fully ripe fruit.
