Technical notes:

• 100% Merlot
• 2002 was a wonderfully hot and sunny season, ideal for pushing ripeness and lush fruit.
• The fruit source is from a Vineyard that has an impeccable track record, McCullough Vineyards in Cutchogue with Sam McCullough at the helm. Planted in 1999 to Clone 1 and 3 on 101/14 Rootstock
• The yield was 2.95 tons per acre.
• The harvest was done carefully by hand on October 29th 2002 followed by meticulous sorting on the sorting table at Wolffer Estate.
• The hot summer provided extremely ripe flavored berries and fabulous numbers.
• The Brix (sugar) was 22.9, the Total Acidity was 4.4 gr/Ltr. and the PH was 3.7
• The must was cold soaked at 50º Fahrenheit for 5 days followed by a hot fermentation that went up to 87º Fahrenheit for the first 1/2 then cooled to 78º for the remainder of the fermentation.
• The cap was meticulously pumped over 3 times a day during peek fermentation and was macerated for a total of 22 days.
• The press wine was separated at 0.8 bar. The young wine settled for 7 days in stainless steel tanks before being racked into French Barrique (50% new and 50% 1 year old barrels)
• Malolactic fermentation was done very slowly by natural strain of bacteria. The wine matured for a total of 21 month in barrel with a total of 6 rackings done with intense care. The wine was never filtered or fined and was bottled on August 4th 2004.
• Only 2316 750ml Bottles and 18 Magnums were made.

Tasting notes:

• Deep red almost black in color.
• The aroma bursts of ultra ripe fruit, cedar and fine leather. The air is filled with fruit of blackberry, plums and currents with some licorice.
• The Mouth-feel is lush, concentrated yet extremely elegant and classic. There are layers upon layers of ripe velvet tannins balanced by wonderful berry notes and supported with some toasty oak.
• The finish goes on and on with complex mocha, black chocolate and elegant sweet berry notes. This is a concentrated classic Merlot that has tremendous aging potential but is ripe and full to be enjoyed early on.

Serving suggestion:

• The wine has such a wonderful aroma that it is best opened an hour before the meal is served and you can spend the time just smelling it.
• It will go extremely well with Duck, Steak, Lamb and even with spicy Italian Sausage.
• A good aged Gruyer will also be a fine companion.