2020 Merlot

Tasting Notes

Leading with aromatics of red fruit and cardamom, this wine features soft, refined tannins. On the palate, red plum is accented with notes of berry tart, underscored by rich cocoa with an impression of violets, rounded out by an elegant finish.

Vineyard Notes

Seavey’s 27th vintage of single-vineyard estate Merlot comes entirely from grapes grown on the steep hillside blocks of our estate, which we have been farming for over forty years. The growing season began dry with an early bud break progressing with cool temperatures for bloom, followed by increasingly higher temperatures for fruit set. Our Merlot grapes were harvested in September.

Production Notes

Following classic Bordeaux methods, we separately harvest and vinify each vineyard block. Grapes were harvested by hand at night under lights by our vineyard team. In the cool of the early morning, grapes from our 2020 harvest were promptly de-stemmed, and the berries were gently transferred into fermentation tanks to carefully manage the tannins and resulting wine texture. The Merlot wines were fermented on skins using only native yeast for an average of 14 days. Following fermentation, the wine was aged in French oak barrels (45% new) for 20 months before bottling in May 2022.

100% ESTATE GROWN, PRODUCED & BOTTLED, NAPA VALLEY AVA