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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2016 and 2020 (based on 36 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 87.4 pts. and median of 88 pts. in 8 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by foobarski on 9/20/2016 & rated 88 points: Dark purple, almost opaque in the glass. Rich nose of spice, earth, and green pepper. Somewhat muted fruit and short finish, but still very nice.
Sorry that this was my only bottle ... would like to see where it went a couple years from now. (912 views) | | | Tasted by fkgrls on 9/4/2016 & rated 82 points: Enjoyed this (858 views) |
| Pedroncelli Producer web site2013 Pedroncelli Merlot Bench VineyardsBarrel Aging: 14 months in American Oak
Alcohol: 14.2%
pH: 3.61
Total Acidity: .575g/100mgPedroncelli 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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