2017 CCW Merlot
In Stock
Wine Specs
Vintage
2017
Varietal
Merlot
Vineyard Designation
Horse Heaven Hills AVA
Harvest Date
Oct. 11, 2017
Acid
3.64
pH
3.64
Bottling Date
Aug. 14, 2019
Alcohol %
14.6
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
A rich dark ruby red color greets you. Spicy notes of dried currant, oak and herbal goodness. The flavors expand over the palate. Rich red fruits and toasted cocoa flavors mingle with oak. The finish is long and lingering.
Vineyard Notes
2017 tracked right along our long-term average temperatures. It seemed like it was going to be another hot vintage with a hot June, but the weather mellowed, and we were left with average temperatures. It was one of the early fire years, Washington was impacted by fires up in Canada and Oregon. The smoke cloud ended up moderating some of the hotter weather we were anticipating and thankfully did not damage any of the grapes. After we got started picking in September the weather took a slight cool turn and allowed all our grapes to hang as long as we needed. One of the great things about WA is the cooling weather pattern in September and October.
Winemaker Notes
This is another award-winning Merlot we are proud to share with our wine club. This is our third vintage of Merlot as a stand-alone varietal. After receiving 91 points, and a Gold medal from the 2020 Sunset International wine competition it was awarded a Double Platinum at Wine Press Northwest best of the best competition. The fruit for our Merlot comes from plantings in 2006, it continues to age and produce more complex fruit each vintage. We machine picked the fruit and the fermented in a macro-bin with a special yeast. After fermentation was complete the wine went into oak barrels. It was 67% French oak and 33% American oak. The wine was aged for 20 months before bottling. The only thing blended was Cabernet Sauvignon because it was used to top up the barrels. This wine is rich and smooth. It is everything I look for in a Merlot. The oak accentuates the fruit and adds depth to the wine. Drink now or age for the next decade, this wine is sure to please.