Since 1883, five generations of our family have handcrafted fine wines that express the very best of our vineyards and winemaking expertise. Our Estate Grown Sandstone Merlot come from a gently sloping formation of hills running along the southeastern corner of the historic Livermore Valley. With warm days, cool nights, well-drained sandstone soils, and incoming breezes from the San Francisco Bay, the Wente family’s hillside vineyard is an ideal place to grow outstanding Merlot.
From the winemaker – “Our Sandstone Merlot is a great display of grapes coming from many hillside and valley floor vineyards, each of which give distinct aromatics and structure to the wine. The estate grown vineyards that make up this wine are fermented and aged separately in barrel for about a year before they are blended together. We add Petite Sirah and Petite Verdot to the blend which then ages for another 6 months. Although lighter in structure than a Cabernet Sauvignon, this Merlot combines solid, yet silky tannins with diverse fruit flavors to make a lasting impression.”
This vintage pairs nicely with rack or leg of lamb, lamb chops, roast pork, pork chops or tenderloin, veal with heartier vegetable and/or bean sauces or mushroom and/or wine sauces. Cheeses like Parmigiano, Romano and other hard cheeses as well as cheddar and other savory, firm cheeses.
Rating:
This wine was given a 87 point rating by Wine Enthusiast.
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