2008 IDLE CELLARS MERLOT
Tasting Notes:
A Merlot that will grow with you. The mouth is exposed to a cluster of luscious fruit - black cherry, blueberry, and raspberry with chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon laced throughout. Soft tannins lead to a simple finish with good acidity. Your senses will thank you for allowing them to be able to play in this silky fruit driven playground.
Cork dork winemaking notes: harvested in early October 2008 on the 7th, this Merlot was some of the most pristine fruit we saw that year. We handed sorted it, only removing 2 picking bins of unwanted fruit, mostly pulling out leaves. We de-stemmed the fruit and placed it into fermentation bins. We let it settle for the night and pitched it with BDX yeast. Adding DAP during fermentation due to low nitrogen levels in the fruit itself, it fermented quicker than usual in 4 days. It was a hot fast fermentation giving the wine a very fruity mouth feel in the end. We pressed the wine and let it settle for 3 days. We barreled it down into 1 new Bel Air medium toast barrel and one neutral barrel. Topping it every 3 weeks it stayed in barrel for 22 months. We blended 10% of Los Chamizal Cabernet Sauvignon in it to boost the back palate. Bottled on August 27th, this wine was released during an underground dining event paired with the chocolate mouse desert.
Los Chamizal Vineyard. Sonoma County. Alc. 15.4%. 50 cases produced.