Inconnu Merlot, Carneros, Sonoma 2018 (750ml)

These 35 year old Merlot vines and a combination of a little touch from Laura these wines are direct and powerfully. This wine finds balance between the acidity and fruit that sing their way down the palate with ridged but fine tannins on the finish.

Laura is hearkening back to old school (1960s/1970s/mid80s) California Bordeaux with this vineyard. It’s organically farmed, west-facing hillside, vine age 20-25 years, Carneros gumbo soils; think clay loam, and a ton of other random stuff. Fermentation is in 1.5-ton vats and very slow and at cool temperatures to bring forth the more delicate aromatics of Merlot. The wine stays on the skins for 2 weeks post fermentation to get softer more integrated tannins that one misses out on by not using new French oak barrels. Aged for 18 months in a mix of neutral and twice used Demptos medium toast barrels (Demptos is known for giving a baking spice aromatic profile).