Variety: Merlot

Vineyard: Nakai

AVA: Russian River Valley, CA

Farming: Organic, Dry Farmed

Harvest Date: 16 October 2023

Bottling Date: 15 August 2024

Alc: 13%

Cases: 120

The only wine in this release from the cool 2023 harvest, the Merlot is easily identifiable by its late pick date and restrained aromatics.  Like Ricetti, Nakai vineyard was slow to ripen in 2023, but the Merlot vines were able to produce fruit with more sugar and structure than anything at Ricetti.  The resulting wine feels relatively light on its feet, but after a year in bottle is showing grippy tannins and plenty of potential to age.

Once picked, the Merlot was foot crushed in tank and left to ferment whole cluster – no destemming at all, which adds to the freshness of the final wine.  After just over a week on skins, the Merlot was pressed to stainless steel to finish primary fermentation.  Once sugar dry, the wine was transferred to neutral oak barriques, and left to go through maloloactic fermentation and age on its lees for 10 months.

In August 2024, all the barrels of Merlot were racked to tank for bottling.  This wine has spent an additional year aging in bottle before release.

Indigenous yeast fermentation. 25 ppm SO2 added at bottling, no other additions, unfined and unfiltered.