2013 Flora Springs Merlot Napa

Winemaker Notes:

Flora’s favorite, our Napa Valley Merlot is a soft, supple red wine made to open in the near term. The 2013 bears a red fruit bouquet of Bing cherry and red currant mixed with white chocolate, light cedar and acacia flowers. The mouth has a dense core of purple fruit, reminiscent of kirsch liqueur, and the wine’s velvety tannins melt away on a sweet vanilla note. This wine is wonderful on its own – the way Flora enjoyed it – or it can be paired with a variety of dishes. Its forceful personality, bolstered by the streak of Malbec, make it a good match for almost anything a Cabernet would be paired with, such as steak au poivre, yet the wine’s tannin structure is soft enough to pair with classic chicken piccata or a creamy butternut squash soup.

All the Facts

Appellation: Napa Valley

Varietal: 96% Merlot; 4% Malbec

Cases Produced: 4722

Aging:  15 months in 80% French oak and 20% American oak barrels; mixture of new and seasoned.

On the Vine

Though 2012 was a stellar vintage, 2013 may have been even better. In Napa Valley a warm, dry spring brought early bud break and created ideal conditions for flowering and fruit set. With the exception of one heat spike, temperatures in June and July were consistently in the zone for optimal vine activity, resulting in notably healthy vines as fruit went through veraison and ripening. Harvest was early, and when it came to a close it was about two weeks earlier than other Napa Valley harvests of the last decade.

Our 2013 Napa Valley Merlot relies heavily on fruit from our sustainably-farmed estate vineyard in Rutherford (75%), with grapes also coming from our vineyards in Pope Valley (16%) and Oakville (9%). Blending grapes from these appellations and growing regions creates a multi-faceted wine with notes of red and purple fruits in addition to a variety of spices and other complex flavors.