Merlot & Syrah, Sonoma Mountain, California, USA

An instantly charming oddball merlot from one of California's most interesting and experimental negoce projects. Young Bay Area négociant Brent Mayeaux (aka Stagiaire) had been farming a few parcels of his own since 2018, before deciding in 2022 to focus his attention to winemaking and exclusively supporting local low-intervention farmers. The merlot in question is from the FAMOUS Sonoma Mountain site that Nic Coturri (aka original Cali royalty) sourced fruit from many moons ago. Picked a little early, the merlot saw a short, whole cluster maceration and when pressed got a healthy dash of syrah to expand its horizons. Jewel tinged, seasoned with syrah’s spice, acai tartness, rosy poop-ourri florals stick to tannins that are woody and adaptogenic, shark tooth minerality & old fashioned vanilla ice cream spooned into a glass bowl. Enjoy while holding hands, grasping toes or linking arms – no one really wants to go alone.