2016 "The Artist" Merlot

Vintage: 2016

Varietal: Merlot

Vineyard: 1-Acre, Kenwood

County: Sonoma County

Harvest: 24.1 Brix

Barrel Aging: Aged in French Oak 25% New Oak(CAVIN) for 22 months

Alcohol: 15.0%

About:

This was the second harvest for wander-must on the Kenwood 1-Acre merlot vineyard. After a year of personally farming the vines and taking care of them sustainably, the grapes were harvested on September 26th. It was a warm night leading into a heat spell. The grapes were harvested and brought to the winery.

The stems of the grapes tasted ripe which led the winemaker to include 10% in the tank. The remaining was destemmed and placed on top of the stems in a small stainless tank. Chilling was not turned on and there was no cold soak period. No movements were done on the tank until there was active signs of fermentation. This was a native yeast/spontaneous fermentation. When the cap began bubbling after 10 days the winemaker did alternating movements of punch-downs, pump-overs and feet stomping for 5 days. Following the 5 days, the winemaker gently pressed the cap down to keep it healthy. After 23 days in tank the lot was pressed.

The wine was racked after one year and blended with the 2015 lees from the previous vintage and put back to barrel. The wine was later filtered and bottled in the summer of 2018, after being aged for 22 months.

After 30years+, this 1-Acre cordon pruned vineyard was pulled out in 2018, the 2015 and 2016 are the last two vintages.

  *All purchases and acceptance of wine from Wander-Must must be completed by individuals 21+ years of age*