Winemaker Notes
The nose is filled with an abundance of inviting fruit aromas. Ripe blackberries, juicy plums, and succulent black cherries dominate the forefront.
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.
Today it is an integral part of the greater Santa Barbara County wine region, but at one time the village, Los Olivos, was a stop on the Wells Fargo stagecoach line.