2006 Napa Valley Merlot

 

35 Years of Napa Valley Roots
Napa Valley native and winemaker, Tony Coltrin, brings more than 35 years of winemaking experience to Oberon, with expertise in sourcing quality fruit from the best vineyards in the valley and understanding the region’s uniqueness for growing classic Bordeaux varieties. His long-standing relationships with local growers ensure a consistency in the quality of the grapes grown in premier Napa Valley sub-appellations for Oberon.

 

Vintage

Napa Valley’s 2006 grape growing season was nearly textbook, marked by consistently outstanding, high-quality, abundant crops. Bloom and set-on-the-vine occurred a few weeks later than usual because of cool and wet weather that lasted well into Spring, but by June the vines were back on track. In mid-July, a record-setting heat wave lasted about ten days, but due to the earlier delays, the damage to the grapes was nearly non-existent. In fact, most growers agree that the heat helped where they should be in a “typical” growing. Some growers feared that if the heat-wave continued into August the harvest schedule would be extremely tight, but the weather returned to normal and the grapes were able to ripen in ideal conditions until harvest began in early September.

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Winemaking

To naturally soften tannins and enhance varietal complexity, we gave the wine 28 days of skin contact. We then pressed the wine and transferred it to French oak barrels to undergo a long malolacticfermentation for roundness and depth. Blending in the Cabernet Sauvignon added interesting nuances to the lush berry flavor profile of the Merlot.

Vineyards

We sourced grapes throughout the Napa Valley appellation to accomplish the desired layering of flavors in our Oberon Merlot. Blending fruit from classic and emerging appellations allowed us to take advantage of both the volcanic hillside soils and the deeper alluvial soils of the valley floor. With the diversity of flavors, wewere able to create awell-rounded mouthful of wine.

Wine Facts

Varietals: Merlot 95.2%, Cabernet/Cabernet Franc 4.8%
Appellation: Napa Valley
Barrel Aging: 18 months in French oak
Alcohol: 13.5%
pH: 3.51
TA: 6.2 g/l

Click here for the 2006 Merlot Vintage Note

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