Peju Merlot

Description

In 1983, Tony and Herta Peju bought thirty acres of vines in the famed Rutherford district of the Napa Valley. Since then, the Peju family has maintained a meticulous focus on the vineyard, which has grown to include a proactive approach to sustainability and environmental consciousness. That longstanding commitment and respect for the grapes can be tasted with each sip of these balanced and elegant wines. Still family-owned and operated with daughters Lisa and Ariana poised to take the helm, Peju Winery has become an integral piece of the Napa Valley landscape.VINEYARD Pejus Rutherford Estate is a California Certified Organic vineyard, and is planted primarily with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Persephone Ranch is sustainably farmed and its Pope Valley climate is suited to grow Sauvignon Blanc, as well as Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. Drawing from such varied terroir, the wines exhibit the perfect blend of mountain-fruit focus and Rutherford complexity.VINTAGE Textbook bud break and flowering gave us high hopes for harvest, and Mother Nature did not disappoint. Summer temperatures remained in a precise range during the day, before dipping into the low 50s at night. This wide arc provided gentle, steady ripening and balanced sugar levels, and by evading late rains we finished with a bountiful harvest of undeniably excellent fruit.TASTING Our estate grown Merlot is a luscious wine with plum, black currant, cola, anise and vanilla in the nose and on the palate. Blended with a small amount of Malbec, the texture is soft and full with gentle, well-developed tannins in the finish. This is the perfect choice for stews, pork, lamb and sausages. – Peju Province Winery