Winemaker Notes
With a full two years bottle aging before release, the 2002 Merlot Carneros is already developed into a stylish wine: dark plummy fruit, subtle notes of baking spices and anise, and a broad-but-firm backbone. This wine shows off 2002's forward, juicy flesh, but will develop complexity over many years. If you appreciate the great wines of Bordeaux's Right Bank but love the explosion of Napa Valley fruit, you will find this Carneros Reserve bottling just that magical combination.
Our Reserve bottling of Merlot is distinguished from its Napa Valley brother in ways that may not be obvious from their designations. Instead of simply saving the "biggest" wines for the Reserve, each bottling has its own virtues, with the wine's intended style in mind. The Reserve is designed to emphasize the non-fruit complexity of the variety, a wine that also will develop gracefully with age. So we tend to use vineyard lots with more total tannin, greater volume and texture of mouthfeel, as well as darker fruits, which age in the bottle to lovely forest and spice characters. Texture and length are certainly hallmarks here, backed by dense fruit, but it is greater complexity and structure that define the Reserve.
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.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.