2008 Pride Mountain Vineyards Vintner Select Merlot Sonoma County

(92 Points) 100% merlot, mostly Clone 3 from low-yielding mountaintop vines. Deep red-ruby. Black cherry, raspberry, flowers, licorice and cardamom on the nose. Very sweet and lush in the middle, with an exotic spice character to the dark fruit and dried herb flavors. Boasts lovely verve and grip--not to mention intensity--for a North Coast merlot. A step up from the Sonoma/Napa merlot in ripeness and structure. Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: May/June 2011 Issue 156

Our Vintner Select Merlot has always been a wine of instant gratification, but the temperate ripening conditions of the 2008 vintage have truly pushed decadence to the max! Mother Nature did our thinning for us with a severe spring frost and heavy shatter during bloom, resulting in just 1.3 tons per acre of fruit from our Lower Mountain Top block. We picked and fermented the grapes nearly vine by vine, as uneven ripening during harvest necessitated multiple vineyard passes to pick each grape at the peak of ripeness. The nose possesses a pungent bouquet of fruit, floral and spice aromas, displaying black cherry, red raspberry, lilac, exotic spice and even a touch of minerality in turn. On the mouth, the wine coats and lingers with a sumptuous viscosity and beautifully ripe tannins.

APPELLATION:          Sonoma County

VINTAGE: 2008

HARVEST: September 2008

FERMENTATION: Stainless Steel

COOPERAGE: French Oak

BLEND: 100% Merlot

ALCOHOL: 14.8%

BOTTLING: June 2010

PRODUCTION:           430 cases

RELEASE DATE: January 2011