Winemakers Notes: Bright aromas of strawberry jam, cranberry, and toasty pie crust. A smooth, easy-drinking red that’s effortless yet layered. Petite Sirah provides dusty tannins and rustic depth, Barbera contributes racy acidity, and Grenache rounds it out with juicy cranberry, pomegranate, and black raspberry flavors. A wine that doesn’t try too hard—it just works.

Vineyards: Dry Creek Valley has a long and rich history of wine production that reaches back to the late 1800s, when local immigrant families originally planted wine grapes - many of the wines made from these vineyards were field blends of numerous grapes with varied origins throughout Europe. The Merrill's Vinegrove is a few hundred feet up from the valley floor, providing respite for our Petite Sirah and Grenache from the hottest days of summer. The nearly 30-year old vines are planted in fine Laughlin loam soils and are organically farmed. Petite Sirah receives the first rays of morning sun, but otherwise stays cool in the lowest spot in the vineyard, bolstering acidity and color. The center swale rolls through several exposures, allowing for balance and elegance in our Grenache. The Barbera in this blend is sourced from Preston Farm on the Dry Creek Valley floor, a biodynamically farmed site in a hotter microclimate where the soils are well-drained and gravelly.

Winemaking: This wine is essentially a field blend, crafted by harvesting Petite Sirah, Grenache,and Barbera from separate blocks on the same day and fermenting them together in one open top tank. After a three-day cold soak, fermentation began spontaneously with wild yeast, and the must was punched down manually once or twice per day during the “low and slow” cool temperature fermentation. After pressing, the wine spent 28 months in neutral French oak puncheons before it was sterile filtered and bottled.

Vintage: The 2022 growing season in Sonoma County began with a late spring and mild summer, fostering optimal conditions for early-ripening varieties. However, an unprecedented heatwave in early September challenged late-ripening grapes, necessitating vigilant vineyard management to maintain fruit integrity. In the Dry Creek Valley, we harvested Petite Sirah and Grenache on September 12th, and Barbera on September 13th.