Artisan Series

Complex with Long Silky Finish; Blend of Four Grape Variatels

Grape(s)

95% Merlot, 5% Marquette, Frontenac and Cabernet Sauvignon; Merlot & Cabernet from Kitchak Cellars, Napa Valley, California; Marquette & Frontenac: Deardorff Vineyards, Minnesota

Wine Awards

11 Competition Medals: 2 Gold, 6 Silver, 3 Bronze

Wine Tasting Notes

This wine is soft, silky, smooth, subtle and finishes with a beautiful long finish.  The 22 months on Oak provide an integrated complement to the balanced Merlot grape structure. We will release this wine in 3 groups based on Oak aging from 16 month to 30 months to coax out a range of profiles of wine from the current soft and silky to intense & concentrated.

Grape Background

The Merlot grapes come from our good friends Peter and Patricia Kitchak who own and operate Kitchak Cellars in Napa Valley, CA. They purchased their 13 acres of prime Napa Valley vineyards on the Silverado Trail area 15 years ago.  They make beautiful high end, highly regarded Napa Valley wines from most of their grapes.  We are fortunate to get 6,000 lbs to make our own Napa/Minnesota blend called our Artisan Series.

Wine Maker's Notes

Peter harvests the grapes on or around late September each year. During the 2014 vintage the harvest was between September 8-20. We de-stemmed, crushed and started fermentation with BDX yeast. We fermented on the skins for 14 days.  Pressed and racked twice before racking to barrels on November 22, 2014. The wine was fermented in 75% French Oak and 25% Minnesota Oak barrels for 22 months. 75% of the barrels are new.

Wine Technical Data

Alcohol: 14.1%     pH: 3.58     TA: 6.8     %RS: 0