Sebastiani Sonoma Merlot

Vineyards sonoma county has a long history of producing lush and structured merlot. Our 2015 merlot features fruit from great vineyards in the sonoma valley such as weiler lyon glen oaks marioni hoagland cherryblock and mission. For added depth and flavor a percentage of cabernet sauvignon from sonoma was added to the final blend. Vintage 2015 was a fantastic vintage producing high quality fruit. It began with an earlier than average bud break and an intense compacted harvest beginning earlier than average as well. The high temperatures in august and early september accelerated maturity and picking times. We picked all grapes by september through early october 2015. Overall this was an early and light harvest with smaller berries and concentrated flavors that produced exceptional quality fruit. Winemaking after a three-day cold soak we crushed and fermented the fruit at relatively warm temperatures-for maximum extraction- in stainless steel tanks for 10-15 days. Early ble