2023 Merlot
Black Cherry . Flinty . Tension
From almost 70% estate fruit and the remaining 30% from both new and old Damiani growers, the 2023 Merlot encapsulates the vintage, vineyards, and various winemaking techniques used. Through tailored lead removal, allowing just enough sunlight to hit the fruit while maintaining airflow, develops phenolics for softer, suppler tannins while maintaining varietal expression. And in the cellar, each vineyard’s uniqueness is displayed through small batch, indigenous fermentations.
Best enjoyed at 55° - 60°f
Recommended drink window: Drink now - 2028 – 2035
2023 Vintage Notes
As the harvest season approached, and all things pointed to 2023 being a lovely year. In the vineyards, our team worked tirelessly to ensure the cellar got to play with the best grapes possible come harvest time. Summer of 2023 was drastically different from the several previous seasons with a decent amount of rainfall, hot and humid days, but unusually cool nighttime temperatures. This means we were able to maintain a strict disease management protocol with timely shoot thinning and positioning, aggressive leaf thinning, and our hybrid organic/conventional spray program.
Many have asked about the frost event in late May and how we fared. In the days following the event, we were very nervous as we saw many small shoots go from green to black. After a few weeks, the vines started to push their secondary shoots and subsequent clusters, and we started to see life back in the hard-hit blocks. We feel very fortunate as we saw a fairly normal season as far as yields went, but we know some of our neighbors did not fare as well. These moments help reinforce the strength of the agricultural community and how we as consumers and neighbors can all help one another during challenging times by buying local, supporting small businesses, and always keeping a positive attitude!
Black Cherry . Flinty . Tension
From almost 70% estate fruit and the remaining 30% from both new and old Damiani growers, the 2023 Merlot encapsulates the vintage, vineyards, and various winemaking techniques used. Through tailored lead removal, allowing just enough sunlight to hit the fruit while maintaining airflow, develops phenolics for softer, suppler tannins while maintaining varietal expression. And in the cellar, each vineyard’s uniqueness is displayed through small batch, indigenous fermentations.
Best enjoyed at 55° - 60°f
Recommended Drink Window: Now - 2028 - 2034
2023 Vintage Notes
As the harvest season approached, and all things pointed to 2023 being a lovely year. In the vineyards, our team worked tirelessly to ensure the cellar got to play with the best grapes possible come harvest time. Summer of 2023 was drastically different from the several previous seasons with a decent amount of rainfall, hot and humid days, but unusually cool nighttime temperatures. This means we were able to maintain a strict disease management protocol with timely shoot thinning and positioning, aggressive leaf thinning, and our hybrid organic/conventional spray program.
Many have asked about the frost event in late May and how we fared. In the days following the event, we were very nervous as we saw many small shoots go from green to black. After a few weeks, the vines started to push their secondary shoots and subsequent clusters, and we started to see life back in the hard-hit blocks. We feel very fortunate as we saw a fairly normal season as far as yields went, but we know some of our neighbors did not fare as well. These moments help reinforce the strength of the agricultural community and how we as consumers and neighbors can all help one another during challenging times by buying local, supporting small businesses, and always keeping a positive attitude!
