Edna Valley Vineyard Merlot 2010
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This pioneering winery is the result of a partnership between Chalone Wine Group and Paragon Vineyard, and defines the Central Coast appellation for which it is named. Founded in 1980 as the Edna Valley appellation's first producer of estate-grown Chardonnay, Edna Valley Vineyard also quickly established the region’s Pinot Noir credentials. While relying on artisan winemaking, Edna Valley Vineyard continues to innovate in the new millennium, introducing one of the region’s first Syrahs and—with the addition of the latest clones and trellis systems in the vineyard and a modernized, state-of-the-art winery—adding new luster to its popular mainstays.
Edna Valley Vineyard lies at the heart of the Edna Valley American Viticulture Area, established in 1982. The winery's Jack Niven Hospitality Center enables visitors to sample delicious wines amid this beautiful landscape.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.