2009 Pahlmeyer Merlot

"Deep purple in color, the 2009 Merlot offers olallieberry and freshly-baked gingerbread on the nose.  Plush tannins overlay a well-formed structure, while hints of roasted herbs and concentrated mountain-grown blackberries blend together seamlessly.  The weighty palate hints that this wine will continue to evolve beautifully with proper cellaring.  The finish features lingering notes of whetting stone and blue raspberries." – Erin Green, Winemaker September 2011

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Deep purple in color, the 2009 Merlot offers olallieberry and freshly-baked gingerbread on the nose.  Plush 
tannins overlay a well-formed structure, while flavors of roasted herbs and concentrated mountain-grown 
blackberries blend together seamlessly.  The weighty palate hints that this wine will continue to evolve 
beautifully with proper cellaring.  The finish features lingering notes of whetting stone and blue raspberries.

Composition

89% Merlot
11% Cabernet Sauvignon

Vineyards

Critics

94 Points

Tim Fish, Wine Spectator, May 2012

Plush and richly structured, but with a dense, structured core, offering aromas of red currant and toasty mocha that lead to complex flavors of black cherry and Asian spice. Loamy, ripe tannins sneak in on the finish.

Winemaking

Winemaker:
Erin Green
Alcohol:
15.2%
Harvested:
September 24 to October 3, 2009
Bottled:
April 19, 2011
Released:
April 1, 2012

The grape clusters were hand-sorted, and once de-stemmed, the berries were sorted again by hand on the way to tank. After four to five days of pre-fermentation cold maceration in small open-top fermentors, the fruit began 100% native yeast fermentation. Two to three weeks later, the fruit was gently pressed and moved to barrel where it finished primary and secondary fermentations. The wine continued to age in 80% new French oak – a combination of Taransaud and St. Martin barrels – for eighteen months. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered.

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