Winemaker Notes
White roses, wild strawberries, raspberries, framboise liqueur, cinnamon and vanilla drift over like an echo onto the palate. Its big entry displays ripe tannins, while the body is lush, bold and powerful. This Pinot is juicy and approachable, yet lengthens and broadens, building intensity through the dynamic, extended finish. As with previous vintages, this wine benefits and rewards the patient collector as it unfolds over time.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Pinot Noir Meredith Estate has a medium ruby-purple color and gorgeous fragrance of red roses, lavender and fallen leaves over a core of crushed cranberries, mulberries and raspberry tart plus a touch of allspice. The medium-bodied palate is taut, youthful and finely structured, with the ripe, very fine grained tannins beautifully framing the multilayered berry and earth flavors, finishing long with loads of freshness and expressiveness.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Enthusiast
From one of the producer's older vineyard sites, fully mature and steady, this wine shines in cranberry, rhubarb and strawberry before finding richer, riper streaks of blueberry and blackberry. Generous tannin is seasoned by layers of piquant cinnamon and vanilla. It's lush and bold.
Merry Edwards Winery was founded in 1997 and produces critically acclaimed terroir-driven Pinot Noirs and Sauvignon Blanc using site-specific viticulture in the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations. Over two decades, Merry assembled a stellar collection of vineyards and with her meticulous attention to detail crafted Pinot Noirs of immense depth, elegant structure and exceptional longevity. Her Sauvignon Blanc is among the most sought after in the world.
Now a Certified California Sustainable Winery, the brand entered a new chapter after Merry’s retirement. Merry’s handpicked successor, Winemaker Heidi von der Mehden, and Winery President Nicole Carter have taken up exactly where Merry left off and will continue to make wines treasured by legions of Merry Edwards’ fans well into the future.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.