Rowland Cellars Ramspeck Merlot

“Merlot” is French for young blackbird. Merlot berries have the jet black color of the young birds, which explains the origin of the name for this grape variety and wine. In recent times, Merlots have too often been high-alcohol, overly-extracted wines. To break away from this trend, we have made our Ramspeck Merlot in the style of twenty years ago. Merlot has a thinner skin than Cabernet Sauvignon and rapidly dehydrates in warm weather. The warmer northern areas of the Napa Valley accelerate the sugar accumulation in comparison to a slower maturation of the flavors. To escape this rapid sugar accumulation, we have chosen to grow our grapes in the cooler southern area of the Napa Valley. The Atlas Peak and Oak Knoll sub-appellations of southern Napa Valley are our chosen sites. There we are able to obtain more flavor maturation in the fruit with lower sugar levels at the same stage of ripening. This helps us to achieve our goal of a full-bodied wine with more savory attributes and less alcohol-perceived sweetness.