Gail Wines Merlot Pickberry Vineyard 2021 750ml

It was unfortunate that we were were unable to harvest this fruit in 2020 due to wild fires and fear of smoke taint. But we are back with one of the longest relationships with have with a vineyard. Our 2021 Pickberry Merlot comes from the firm, clay-based soils, about 600' up the northern slopes of Sonoma Mountain. Mother Nature pushed ripeness faster on us than in previous years, trading out lighter herbaceous notes of previous vintages for a focused fruit profile. The wines massive structure coupled with Pickberry's signature blue fruit and intense menthol notes is just right on.

We brought the fruit in early morning, destemmed it and put it aside for a 5-day cold soak. Then started with punch downs twice a day until dry. We barreled down into neutral French oak for a 20-month élevage, leaving it on its primary lees for an extended period of time to help develop varietal character and build volume on the palate. It was bottled unfiltered.

AROMATICS blueberry, menthol, sage FLAVORS mint, currant, cocoa

THE VINEYARD Pickberry is a 30-acre vineyard on the northeast slope of Sonoma Mountain near Glen Ellen, California. The site is a rolling hillside plot on volcanic soil. The climate is cool with warm days and cool nights. Initially planted to Chardonnay in 1982, our block was field budded to the Pickberry clone of Merlot in 1996 using cuttings from an adjacent block.