Composition
95% Merlot
5% Cabernet Franc
Vineyards
- Napanook,
- Rancho Chimiles,
- Caldwell Vineyard,
- Hossfeld Vineyard,
- Moon Vineyard
Critics
90 Points
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #132, December 2000
The 1998 Merlot is light, but it is undoubtedly one of the finest Merlots produced in this irregular vintage... Full-bodied, thick, and juicy, with low acidity as well as melted chocolate, cherry, smoke, and toast aromas and flavors.
Winemaking
- Winemaker:
- Helen Turley
- Alcohol:
- 14.1%
- Released:
- February 1, 2001
The grapes for our 1998 Merlot were carefully chosen from a small handful of prestigious vineyards. The lots for this wine were made from fully ripe grapes, brought to the winery in small bins and de-stemmed only. The whole berries were then fermented with native yeasts. The Merlot was aged in new small French oak barrels for approximately 18 months and then bottled. This wine was neither fined nor filtered.