Beringer’s Napa Valley Merlot is a vibrant expression of this beautiful varietal and the depth and complexity of flavor it can exhibit when grown in the right place. Winemaker Laurie Hook selects vineyards and blocks from AVAs up and down the valley to craft a wine that is the quintessential expression of Napa Valley terroir.
TASTING NOTES:
The 2013 Merlot has lush red and blue fruits highlighted by hints of toffee, dark cherry and chocolate mint. This fleshy wine offers dark plum, black currant and mocha notes accented by fine tannins.
VINTAGE & VINEYARDS:
The 2013 vintage began with a warm, dry spring and relatively early bud break. Summer was notably consistent with even, warm temperatures throughout. Harvest began quite early in August, and by September the majority of whites and lighter reds were completely off the vines. The cooler, sunny weather throughout October allowed grapes still on the vine to develop more phenolic and flavor maturity levels. Overall, it was a high quality crop that was above average in quantity. The majority of this wine was made from grapes grown on Beringer’s Big Ranch Vineyard in Oak Knoll, a relatively cool vineyard which produces Merlot of exceptional character and quality. Laurie also chose lots from several other vineyards, including and Gamble Ranch in Oakville and Bancroft Ranch, one of our reserve vineyards in the Howell Mountain AVA. The grapes for the 2013 Napa Valley Merlot were harvested between September 14th and October 5th.
WINEMAKING:
Kept in separate small lots until the final blending, the grapes for our Merlot were picked, quickly brought to the winery and placed in small stainless steel tanks for a 2-day cold soak designed to extract color and flavor from the grapes. The juice was then fermented dry and the young wine was placed in small French oak barrels (17% new) for 14 months.