2007 marked a fantastic growing season in the Napa Valley.  We know that by now you have probably heard this time and time again.  In the Frazier vineyard grapes were gently harvested by hand to very low yields, even by  the most rigorous of standards. If I had to guess I would say total yields were somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 to 1.25 tons per acre which translates to about 2-3 barrels of  finished wine per planted acre. To paraphrase a line from an Indiana Jones movie..."We chose wisely". On top of the great fruit and low yields that we were blessed with, the winemaking for the 2007 vintage went off without a hitch. It was truly a best case scenario.

The most rewarding part of our job is releasing wines to those of you who wait patiently for 3 years from the time these wines are harvested as grapes to the time they mature to a finished wine in the bottle. Finally the wait is over and we are releasing the first wine from 2007, the Frazier Merlot. This wine is very true to the Merlot varietal with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon blended into the final composition. This wine is very young. While we tend to like our wines on the young side this wine takes some time in the decanter to strut its stuff.

A short while after bottling this wine we found ourselves at a family birthday celebration. On the menu was a simple appetizer of wild mushrooms marinated in olive oil and  herbs. The main course consisted of Kim's lamb shanks, the wine was the 2007 Merlot. We opened the wine in the early afternoon before dinner and decanted it before transporting in the bottle to dinner. While the wine is clearly very young, after 5 or so hours of air it began to show its true potential. Layers of dark, rich fruit, a bit of earth framed by toasty oak and some  fine grained tannins finished long and smooth. The wine paired wonderfully with the earthy, rustic components of the meal, it truly set the meal apart.

The greatest thing about the location of our vineyard in the Coombsville region of Napa is the terroir. This terroir, as the French call it, encompasses all that goes into a specific site and gives wine such expression. These are factors ranging from sun exposure, proximity to water, soil type, slope of the vineyard, and the list goes on. Our winemaking team has genuinely hit the sweet spot with the 2007 vintage. For those who are tempted to try it as a youngster please be patient and remember that air is your friend. For those who care to cellar, the low yields in the vineyard, rigorous berry and later barrel selection in the cave have combined to create a Merlot which we feel can age through 2020.

2007 Frazier Merlot Tasting Notes