Nose
A Merlot for Cabernet lovers, it greets you with an aroma of raspberry and plum, followed by a lingering earthiness distinctive to its growing region.
Palate
The palate showcases flavors of black cherry and vanilla with a smooth, chocolatey finish and supple tannins.
Harvest
We harvested our lot of fruit on 10/23. This is when the chemistry looked the best and also had physiological ripeness at its peak. With the extremely high pH of merlot from The Rocks I wanted to allow this fruit to get a little more ripe with more potential ending ABV (Learn more from our Winemaking Videos).
10/23/2019
Brix 25 - pH 3.95 - TA 4.5 g/L
Winemaking
After the fruit was harvested, it was de-stemmed (but not crushed). It went on to cold soak for 24 hours before inoculation of BM 45 yeast strain. The cap was punched down 3 times per day to break up skins and to gain maximum extraction.
Food Pairing
Try this fantastic Merlot with coffee-rubbed beef brisket with pan-seared brussel sprouts.
