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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2006 and 2010 (based on 36 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 88.1 pts. and median of 88 pts. in 14 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Doc90 on 3/24/2019 & rated 91 points: The nose is soft and subdued, but Pomerol in personality- licorice, asphalt, anise, tarragon. Striking black licorice and tarragon in the mouth. Dark, winter evening energy. I love that this comes from California. Good producer. (361 views) | | | Tasted by redbrix on 10/9/2013 & rated 87 points: Fairly robust for a merlot. Complex flavor berries and plum. (1094 views) | | | Tasted by ecola on 2/5/2011 & rated 88 points: This is a solid value. I've come to know this as a value driven producer. There is earth, tobacco, and dried cherry on the nose. The cherry/plum/earth flavors on the palate are accompanied by a nice tannic dryness. ($9) (1607 views) | | | Tasted by Sesame53 on 9/7/2009: Everyday drinker (1880 views) | | | Tasted by wineshlub on 8/8/2009: This is a mystery. The last bottle of this that I had, while not great, was a decent, balanced bottle of wine. This one started off with heavy airplane glue on the nose, overwhelming everything else. On the palate it is hot, hot, hot. Some prune comes through, but there's also a nasty overcooked broccoli component. The wine improves a little after being opened for a while, but the problems remain.
I doubt it was a shipping or storage problem. This bottle was bought from the same place, and at the same time, as the last one. Most likely some sort of production issue. Too bad, since one of the supposed advantages of over processed California wines is that you're not supposed to get much bottle variation. (1812 views) | | | Tasted by wineshlub on 5/19/2009: Some prune, some sage, a fair amount of Irish Spring in the aroma. Some spice and lots of prune on the palate, decent finish. Not bad, decent balance. Overprocessed - for the price I'm not complaining, but I suspect this wine might have been even nicer if it had been left to it's own devices.
Went nicely with some Grandma's pizza. (1644 views) | | | Tasted by westcoastwannabe on 5/12/2009 & rated 85 points: Not complex, but still pleasant enough with dark berries, medium tannins, and a decent finish. (1125 views) | | | Tasted by bccdavid on 3/20/2009 & rated 90 points: Plums, blueberries. Very nice. (1143 views) | | | Tasted by westcoastwannabe on 2/16/2008 & rated 87 points: Decanting really helped bring out a deeper and more complex taste in this merlot. It shared some of the characteristics that I like in a cab. Although it was not quite as impressive as I experienced recently on a flight when tasting the 2005 vintage of the same wine. (1173 views) | | | Tasted by Rojo on 12/20/2007 & rated 91 points: dark and deep blackish purple color. aromas of mint, cherry, blueberry and raspberry liquer. nice balance of acid and sweetness. ripe cherry, oak with sweet but chewy tannins. long respectable finish. For the price, outstanding bottle of wine! (1328 views) |
| Pedroncelli Producer web sitePedroncelli Merlot Bench VineyardsSpecs
Barrel Aging: 14 months in American Oak, 30% new
Alcohol: 13.7%
pH: 3.63
Total Acidity: .630g/100ml
Tasting Notes
Aromas of dark red fruit and a touch of warm cooking spices. Flavors of cherry and plum are showcased with a vanilla oak toast. Medium-bodied with mild tannins follow through to a round and fruity finish. A beautifully balanced wine.
Vineyards
Bench Vineyards: The source for our Merlot comes from three vineyard blocks off our estate vineyard located along Dry Creek Road from a vineyard planted over 5 years beginning in 1990. Bench Vineyards, the
name chosen for this wine, describes the natural benches that flank Dry Creek Valley and rise gradually into the steep hills. Characterized by sloped topography and gravelly/rocky residual soils, the unique growing conditions combine to bring out the best in our Merlot.
Winemaker Notes
2020 brought a good growing season with a warm summer and even ripening. The grapes were picked over the last days of August based on maturity and acidity levels. A high concentration of phenols and aromatics highlights this vintage. The fruit was crushed into temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and cold-soaked for 48 hours. Daily pump-overs during the fermentation give a substantial increase in flavor and color. The young wine was transferred to small American oak barrels to age for 14 months in order to develop smoothness and complexity, giving the wine a subtle backbone of oak components with judicial use of new oak.
MerlotMerlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountyDry Creek Valley Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley | Dry Creek Valley Association | Appellation America | San Francisco Chronicle Article |
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