2005 Howell Mountain Merlot

The Vineyards

Our Howell Mountain Merlot comes from two vineyards located high upon a Howell Mountain plateau overlooking Napa Valley. The majority of the blend was grown on our La Jota vineyard estate - a unique spot surrounded by pines, firs, oak and madrone trees, with a cool, windy climate and lean volcanic soils. These estate grapes, selected from our meadow blocks, provide the wine with a serious cocoa/chocolate element. We added a little Merlot from Keyes Vineyard, a mile down the road and with very different terroir, to give it a "pop" of bright fruit character and broader tannins. La Jota gets more fog, while Keyes tallies more sunshine hours, which accounts for the different vineyard personalities.

Winemaking

We hand-harvested the grapes into small, 30-pound boxes to prevent crushing, and then brought them to our winery for hand sorting. After destemming and light crushing, the must was cold soaked for gentle color, .avor and tannin extraction. To bridle the "mountain tannins", Winemaker Christopher Carpenter added small amounts of oxygen with three "splashing pump-overs" a day during the primary fermentation in stainless steel tanks. In-barrel malolactic fermentation rounded the acidity and softly integrated the vanillin character of the new French oak barrels. To further enhance the wine’s elegance, we racked the wine .ve times during its 22 months of barrel aging.

Current Tasting Notes

Our 2005 Howell Mountain Merlot opens with lush, classic aromas of black cherry and chocolate. The richly-textured .avors echo the aromas, and then pick up blackberry and brown sugar as they linger on the expansive .nish. Hints of minerals—the voice of La Jota terroir—weave through the dark fruit and cocoa expression. We call this a Merlot for Cab drinkers because of the .rm backbone of mountain tannins, yet the wine is unmistakably elegant and supple. Aging in French oak barrels—kept at perfect humidity and temperature in our hillside cave—added subtle vanilla and spice nuances.