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Estate grown and bottled in the Alexander Valley. This single vineyard Merlot comes from a few acres on the northern edge of our Red Winery Road Vineyard. It was harvested on October 30, more than a month later than the Merlot from the same block of this vineyard was harvested in 2002. It was given a twenty-one day extended maceration and was aged for eighteen months in 40 percent new French oak, then blended with eight percent Cabernet Sauvignon from the same vineyard. This wine is even more atypical of California Merlot than was the 2002. It is dry and spicy, deeply colored, with almost aggressive tannins offset by delicate flowery aromas and a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg from the French oak. We produced only 450 cases of this Merlot. Only 20 cases remain avaliable for purchase.