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2003 Merlot - Beckstoffer Las Amigas Vineyard


Awards & Accolades

Vintages
 -2005  -2004  -2003
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BLEND
100% Merlot

VINEYARDS
Beckstoffer-Las Amigas Vineyard, Blocks D2 and D5

APPELLATION
Carneros, Napa Valley

WINEMAKING

  • 29 days on the skins
  • Native yeast fermentation with gentle pump-overs
  • Bottled unfined and unfiltered

BARREL AGING
18 months in French oak Bordeaux chateau ferre barrels (66% new)

ALCOHOL
14.5% by volume

RELEASE DATE
August, 2006

BOTTLING DATE
July, 2005

PRODUCTION
790 cases

CELLARING
This wine should develop complexity with up to ten years in the bottle and hold for many years after that.

WINEMAKER'S NOTES
This was the fifth year of a vineyard-designated Merryvale bottling from the Beckstoffer family's Las Amigas Merlot vineyard in Carneros. Merlot is the earliest ripening Bordeaux variety and demands cooler weather than Cabernet Sauvignon to achieve its highest potential. This modern planting of clones 181 and 314 is on a vertical, shoot-positioned trellis and is producing outstanding quality. In 2003, variable weather at bloom resulted in a yield of barely a ton per acre.