Technical notes:
- 100% Merlot
- 2004 was a typical growing season for Long Island. Moderate heat with a tendency to easily have an over cropped vineyard. This called for rigorous fruit thinning in the vineyard and patience at the end to reach the very ripest fruit in order to make The Grapes of Roth.
- The fruit source is again from McCullough Vineyards in Cutchogue and Sam McCullough was able to bring the fruit to the highest level possible.
- Planted in 1999 to Clone 1&3 on 101/14 Rootstock
- The yield was low at 2.5 tons per acre.
- The harvest was done carefully by hand on October 29th 2004 followed by meticulous sorting on the sorting table at Wölffer Estate.
- The growing Season was ideal to bring out wonderful fruit notes and with the extra care get good concentration.
- The Brix (sugar) was 23, the Total Acidity was 4.2 gr/Ltr. and the PH was 3.7
- The must was cold soaked at 50º Fahrenheit for 7 days followed by a moderately hot fermentation that went up to 87º Fahrenheit.
- The cap was meticulously pumped over 3 times a day during peek fermentation and was macerated for a total of 26 days.
- The press wine was separated at 0.6 bar. The young wine settled for 8 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 20.5 month in barrel with a total of 6 rackings done with intense care. The wine was never filtered of fined and was bottled on July 19th 2006.
- Only 2316Bottles 750ml, 6 Magnums and one 3.0 Liter bottle were made.
Tasting notes:
- The Color is of dark red brick.
- The aroma is filled of prunes, smoked cedar, ripe strawberries and dark ink.
- The wine is full bodied with concentrated berries but still elegant structured.
- There are layers and layers of ripe tannins, wonderful skin characters, lush and ongoing fruit and again ripe tannins and wonderful integrated toasty oak and great minerality.
Serving suggestion:
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