2007 Merlot Bottled
On December 12, 2009, we bottled the 2007 Merlot. We got 25 cases of 100% Merlot. This fruit was from Dixon, CA.
It’s just a little high in alcohol for my taste, and will be sure to keep my future Merlot vintages at 25 Brix in the future to keep the alcohol lower. The final wine is 15.8% alcohol, pH = 3.78, TA = 0.68 and residual sugar is 100 mg/L (considered completely dry).
This wine is drinkable now, but will require a year in the bottle to soften and be truly ready. Knowing my family and friends, they will want to try it ASAP anyway.
Salute!
The Napa Town & Country Fair competition results were 3rd place for this vintage. This is not terribly disappointing (better to be 3rd place than no place), and we learn from our efforts. The fruit was from Dixon, CA – and I have decided to buy fruit from better known regions. Our Cab Franc vintage (2009) is from Napa’s Oak Knoll district. We expect that wine to win gold medals as it’s already more vibrant and substantial than prior vintages. NOTE: For those of you wanting to cellar this vintage we encourage you to drink it young as it may not stand up to a long cellar life.
CA State Fair results for 2010: http://www.lavawine.org/Competition/2010StateFairHOME_AllEntries.pdf
Results for the CA State Fair were released today. This wine got 82 points (honorable mention). I’m pleased with the outcome. A good table wine for friends and family.