$55/bottle under the original label
Ready for one of the finest expressions of Merlot you’ll find anywhere all year? As an added bonus, we won't quote that famous scene from Sideways.
Lot 432 comes to us from a stalwart in Sonoma winemaking. The winery needed to clear barrel space for the ’23 haul, and given our history with them, gave us the call.
For viticulture, Moon Mountain has the best of both worlds. Its inland Sonoma County location and cool night-time inversion temps make for a lengthy growing season, ensuring gradual ripeness.
When you have fruit this good, you don’t mess with it. This winery takes pride in hand-crafted, low-intervention winemaking. Clusters are hand-picked at night and fermented with native yeasts. The fruit from each vineyard block is kept separate during fermentation to preserve terroir, then blended later for optimal regional expression. The juice is aged in French oak barrels for 18 months in a gentle 25% new wood regimen.
Such elite winemaking comes at a price. From our source, this juice goes for $660/case, or $55/bottle. Not here. We're passing the savings along to you:
Our price: $18/bottle.
This 100% Moon Mountain Merlot opens with huckleberry, plum, vanilla, new leather and bay leaf; the nose is haloed by violets and fig. The entry is refined with black cherries, baking spices, chocolate, and potting soil all brushed with a discernibly dusty quality. The acidity is balanced, the tannins fine-grained and grippy; perfectly integrated, leading into a dry barrel-kissed finish that’s slow to reveal dried herbs, fig, and currants in a drawn out, elegant exposé.
100% Moon Mountain Merlot
18 months in French oak, 25% new barrels
14.5% alc.
