Silica Merlot 2021
In Stock
Wine Specs
Vintage
2021
Varietal
Merlot
Appellation
Golden Mile Slopes
Cases Produced
285
Acid
6.25 g/L
pH
3.87
Aging
Decant or set aside for aging, keep 5 years or more.
Residual Sugar
.43 g/L
Alcohol %
15.4
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Medium burgundy with dark cherry highlights. Nose features sweet cherry and vanilla, really good intensity, some red licorice and pipe tobacco notes in the background. Palate has juicy berry fruit, some jammy cherry and cry cranberry. Has some nice big tannin but not bitter, backed up by pleasing acidity.
Production Notes
Harvested October 15th, 2021. Fermented in tank for 4 weeks, pressed and then aged in new (27%) & neutral French oak barriques for 18 months. 2021 was an unusually hot and dry year, so as a result we kept fruit thinning minimal and tried to retain as much acidity and balance as possible in such a year. Some local forest fire pressure occurred but not near or severe enough to negatively affect our portfolio. 270 cases produced.
The three brand new barriques used in the Alluvia and the Silica were all tight-grain French oak, with two of the three being Medium toast instead of Medium-Plus. The result is a little sweeter wood tannin and less smokiness from the barrel, which is crucial for keeping the fruit-forward expression intact in such an amazingly hot and smoky year. Seguin Moreau, Francois Freres and Ermitage were the producers, and I recall tasting the Seguins and thinking that they could be a stand-alone wine as a single barrel for each, interestingly this is the singular new Medium-Plus barrel in the blend!
Food Pairing Notes
This is a really big wine but ready for a lot of different food pairings, my suggestion is Spanish rice with chorizo, braised oxtail or birria tacos.
Other Notes
Our 10.5 acre vineyard is over 50% Merlot, and we have two different clones, both hybridized in Bordeaux. This wine is made from a Pomerol clone and was planted together with the Silica block, across different soil types but sharing the same rows. The name "Silica" refers to the sandy soil in the section on the vineyard, which lends the wine distinct characters due to smaller berry size (increased tannin and concentration of flavour), elevated pH (due to more frequent drip irrigation). Using only 30% new oak and encouraging expression of the grapes, the result is a structured, deeply complex Merlot that can be enjoyed now, or hold for aging.soil types but sharing the same rows. The name "Silica" refers to the sandy soil in the section on the vineyard, which lends the wine distinct characters due to smaller berry size (increased tannin and concentration of flavour), elevated pH (due to more frequent drip irrigation). Using only 30% new oak and encouraging expression of the grapes, the result is a structured, deeply complex Merlot that can be enjoyed now, or hold for aging.