2006 Hanna Merlot, Alexander Valley

Aromas of cheery pie, cola, coconut milk and spearmint, with a medium saturation of brilliant ruby color. On the tongue, flavors of black cheery, plum, nutmeg, menthol lozenge, with balanced acidity.

$32.00 per bottle

The Vineyard
Hanna's 2006 Alexander Valley Merlot was sourced from our Red Ranch in Alexander Valley. The Merlot on this ranch was planted in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1997, primarily to clone 3 on 110 R rootstock.

Vintage Notes
Spring of 2006 was sodden, and bloom was late but very successful. July began cool but became blistering, exceeding 100o F for several days. August was cool, allowing varietal character to develop. Flavors began to intensify during September, and we began harvesting our largest Merlot block, 4, on October 24th; finishing with block 15 on October 28th. For the Cabernet Sauvignon portion of the blend, we started on October 12th with block 1, and finished with block 17 on the 26th. We picked in a Brix range of 25.7o to 26.7o with an average of 26.1o. Yield averaged 3.6 tons per acre for Merlot, and 4.1 for these Cab Sauv. Blocks-slightly above average.

Grapes were sorted, destemmed and partially crushed then cold soaked for 5 to 13 days. A combination of pump over and Delestage were used to extract flavor and color. Pressing was done “to taste”, based on daily tastings of the wines after pump over. The newly pressed wines were racked to tank and allowed to settle before barreling. The wine was racked 3 times in its first year and once in its second year. Aging was in 59 gallon barrels from Taransaud, Seguin Moreau, Saury, and Canton.

Tasting Notes
Aromas of cheery pie, cola, coconut milk and spearmint, with a medium saturation of brilliant ruby color. On the tongue, flavors of black cheery, plum, nutmeg, menthol lozenge, with balanced acidity.