2021 Pahlmeyer Merlot Napa Valley

TWI93-95 The single-varietal 2021 Merlot comes 62% from Waters Ranch and 38% from Stagecoach Vineyard and is due to be bottled very soon. Deep garnet-purple in color, it comes barreling out of the glass with bold expressions of juicy blueberries, Morello cherries, and wild blueberries, leading to wafts of rose oil, cardamom, and cumin seed with a waft of fragrant soil. The full-bodied palate delivers a very fine-grained yet firm backbone of ripe, rounded tannins and beautiful tension to support the black fruit and floral layers, finishing long with a spicy lift.
WA92-94 Pahlmeyer’s 2021 Merlot is 100% Merlot matured 18 months in 89% new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered. A blend of fruit from the Pahlmeyer Estate Vineyard (68%) and Stagecoach (32%), it’s ripe and plummy, with further notes of black cherries and mocha. It’s full-bodied and structured, nicely firm without being tough or hard, with a long, cool, savory finish.
Estate Notes: Our debut Pahlmeyer red from the stellar 2021 vintage is a thrill to experience, a wine that matches intensity with elegance, beautifully articulated and built to age. Aromas of blackberry and cassis leap from the glass with an underscore of black olive and dark earth. The palate is muscular yet refined, a lithe dance of richness and nuance. A focused core of fresh dark fruit—blackberry, boysenberry, and black plum—is enveloped in polished tannins that lend a weighty grip without overpowering. A lifting note of lingonberry jam runs long through the finish, interplaying with hints of cedar, fresh leather, and sage that echo long on the finish. – Winemaker Katie Vogt

Our high-elevation Merlot blocks were hand-harvested at their most expressive moment. At the winery, the clusters were meticulously hand sorted and destemmed — with only the most perfect berries delivered to the tank. Fruit was gently and slowly extracted, spending up to 18 days on skins. Free-run juice was then collected overnight and aged separately from press cuts. We aged the wine in 89% new French oak barrels for 18 months. After careful blending of select lots, the wine was bottled in June 2023 for additional bottle age before release.