The Experience
Aroma - This wine features aromas of Black cherry and currant fruits with a smoky, toasty oak spiciness.

Palate - On the palate, the wine has a rich core of black cherry and plum flavors with hints of anise. Full bodied with toast and ripe chocolaty tannins which linger on the finish, this wonderful Merlot is balanced for drinking now or can be cellared for further complexity.

The Vineyards
Our 2001 Napa Valley Merlot came from a variety of vineyard locations in the Oakville, Oak Knoll and Carneros Districts. Blending grapes grown from different areas allows us to create a wine with great depth, concentration and complexity. The vineyard sources include Truchard from Los Carneros, Gardner and Jaegar from the Oak Knoll area, and the Vine Cliff Estate and Moynier vineyards located in Oakville.

The Winemaking
The grapes were hand-picked, hand-sorted, and destemmed into a small stainless steel tanks for fermentation. The grapes were cold soaked for 4 days before the fermentation was started. When the color and flavor had been fully extracted and the tannins were rich and supple, the wine was drained from the fermentation tank and gravity fed into new and one year old chateau style French oak barrels for ageing. This wine was aged for 17 months in our caves before being bottled. Our 2001 Napa Valley Merlot has 5% Cabernet Franc blended into it to add structure and finish.

Wine Facts
Harvest Dates: September 11-October 6, 2001
Growing Region: Carneros, Oak Knoll and Oakville
Crushing Regime: Destemmed only
Pre-fermentation Treatment: 4-Day cold soak
Fermentation: Native and Cultured Yeast
Maceration: 17-30 Days, 4 Weeks Average
Barrel Composition: 50% New French Oak
Time in Barrels: 17 months
Filtration/Fining: Egg White Fining
Blend Composition: 95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc
Bottling Date: April 16-18, 2003

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