About this wine
Merlot was handpicked on October 13, 2021. The vineyard team carefully hand sorted the fruit while picking. The fruit was brought into the cellar where is was carefully sorted for a second time to highlight the highest quality Merlot 2021 had to offer. The fruit was crushed and fermented a stainless steel tank and open-top fermenters. The wines were split into two different lots, fermented with different yeasts. The lots were kept separate and used as blending components in the final Merlot. The wines were fermented for a month a high temperature to increase extraction of color and tannin. The wines were then pressed off, separating the free run and the press fraction. This wine was aged in a combination of French and American oak until the blend was constructed of all the different components to create a wine reflective of Seneca Lake and cool climate Merlot. It was bottled in the fall of 2022.
Suggested Food Pairings
Grilled lamb chops with cranberry sauce, beef stroganoff and roasted beet and goat cheese salad.
Wine Details
Vintage Notes
The winter leading into 2021 was mild, leading to reduced bud damage and a large crop. The vintage started with an early bud break and bloom. The vintage was warm through the summer, leading to an early start of harvest on September 21st. High levels of rain through September and October made for more austere acid driven styles of wine through the vintage. This leads the whites from this vintage to age elegantly for the coming future. The reds are easy drinking, bright, fruit driven wines best enjoyed young.
Vineyard & Soil
Planted in 1989, this vineyard is 250 feet from Seneca Lake – those closest spot to the water in our vineyard. This allows the cool summer breezes off the lake to delay ripeness in the wines, allowing them to ripen gradually. This slow ripening preserves color and tannin, allowing for a fuller style of Merlot that is often found in cooler climate regions. This block is planted on a moderately steep Howard Gravelly loam soil that is layered on top of sandy and gravelly bedrock sourced from the glaciers that formed the Finger Lakes.
Tech Sheet
Composition
100% Merlot
Alcohol
12.1%
Harvest Brix
20.5
Total Acidity
6.9 g/L
Residual Sugar
0 g/L (0.0%)
pH
3.41
Cased Produced
370
Retail Price
$22
Dietary notes
Vegan, Gluten Free
Dietary notes
Vegan, Gluten Free
