Lot 432
2021 Moon Mountain Merlot

When you have fruit this good, you don’t mess with it. This winery takes pride in hand-crafted, low-intervention winemaking. Clusters are hand-picked at night and fermented with native yeasts. The fruit from each vineyard block is kept separate during fermentation to preserve terroir, then blended later for optimal regional expression. The juice is aged in French oak barrels for 18 months in a gentle 25% new wood regimen.

This 100% Moon Mountain Merlot opens with huckleberry, plum, vanilla, new leather and bay leaf; the nose is haloed by violets and fig. The entry is refined with black cherries, baking spices, chocolate, and potting soil all brushed with a discernibly dusty quality. The acidity is balanced, the tannins fine-grained and grippy; perfectly integrated, leading into a dry barrel-kissed finish that’s slow to reveal dried herbs, fig, and currants in a drawn out, elegant exposé.