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The Experience
Aroma - Ripe blackberry and casis fruits, with nuances of toast and plum jam. Complex with cedar, vanilla and hints of toasty oak with tobacco and licorice.
Palate - Rich and concentrated palate with blackberry, plum and chocolate flavors. Ripe chewy tannins with hints of licorice and mahogany oak that extend into the lengthy finish. 
The Vineyard
The grapes for our 2001 Oakville Merlot came from our Estate vineyard located in the heart of Oakville. The vineyard consists of 14 individual blocks ranging from steep hillside terraces, to the flat rocky red soil of the "Oakville Bench: at 400 feet above the valley floor. The combination of vineyard, low yields and impeccable farming, has produced grapes and thus wine with incredible flavor and concentration. A small amount of Cabernet Franc was blended in for added complexity.
The Winemaking
Individual vineyard blocks were hand picked separately and the carefully hand sorted at the winery before being destemmed into individual fermentation tanks. The grapes were then cold soaked for four days before fermentation began. This is done to enhance flavor and color extraction. After an average of 22 days maceration, when optimum balance of flavor and tannin extraction was reached, the wine was gravity drained from the skins into French oak barrels for 19 months of aging in our wine caves.
Wine Facts
Harvest Dates: October 2, 2001
Growing Region: Oakville
Crushing Regime: Destemmed only
Pre-fermentation Treatment: 4-Day cold soak
Fermentation: Cultured Yeast
Maceration: 21 Day
Barrel Composition: 72% New French Oak
Time in Barrels: 18 months
Filtration/Fining: None/None
Blend Composition: 95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Cases Produced: 270 Cases
Bottling Date: April 15, 2003