R. Merlo Estate Vineyards logoOur Wines

At R. Merlo Estate Vineyards, the particular characteristics of our Hyampom Valley vineyards are carried through to the bottle. Our vineyards have allowed us to make an array of richly flavored and expressive wines, all true to varietal character and true to the land from which they come.

R. Merlo Estate Vineyards wine bottlesUnlike most California wines, these deep, complex wines are not high in alcohol, nor overripe in flavors. Rather, the red wines reveal rich flavor themes with very large, bold, yet smooth tannin structure. The phenomenal skin structure of the fruit results in opulent, dark colors, practically impenetrable by light. The white wines display bright vibrant flavors with crisp natural acidity.

R. Merlo Estate Vineyards produces unique varietal wines, all showing the extraordinary terroir of Hyampom Valley.

About Filtration and Sediments

When opening a bottle of our wine, you may find a small amount of sediment on the cork. This is normal because we do not filter, or only lightly filter our wines. The reasons for this are because filtering of wines takes away from the character and structure. We are very traditional in this sense. Our wines are allowed to develop after bottling for a number of years and that is why the wines will change when allowed to 'breath' after opening. The Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Zinfandel will have this sediment characteristic more than other varietals.

Wine filtration, and to a lesser extent fining, remain subjects of controversy among winemakers. There is the school that argues filtration is always necessary for stability in the bottle. The other side argues that a carefully made wine, red wine in particular, which has gone through barrel aging, should not need filtration, either early or before bottling.

Professor Dinsmoor Webb of UC Davis wrote: "Filtration of fine wine is a controversial issue. While it may be necessary for ordinary commercial wines, too heavy a filtration can indeed rob a fine wine of some of its complexity and capacity to age." On the subject of fining, Webb wrote: "Most young wines, if left long enough under good conditions, would eventually reach the same state of clarity as fining can achieve within months."

At R. Merlo Estate Vineyards, we make wines in the classic style. David Georges, our Head Winemaker and Viticulturist, earned his B.S. Degree in Viticulture / Enology from U.C. Davis in 1998. David believes that unfiltered or lightly filtered wines retain the characters of the wine, keeping the tannins and flavors from being extracted in the filtration process. It is uncommon to find unfiltered wines in the price ranges we are selling our wines for, and are usually limited to more expensive wines.

David suggests that you handle a bottle very gently in order to not disturb any sediments. If the bottle is stored cork down, the way we store our bottles, he suggests you stand the bottle up for a day if this is convenient. It is very common to see sediment attached to the bottom of the cork, and does not indicate any problems with the wine.

Our Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Zinfandel are unfiltered, while our Merlot, Sangiovese, and Pinot Noir are lightly filtered.


Current Releases

The following wines are our current releases. You will find more descriptive information about these and our library wines in our online wine store.


2005 Cabernet Sauvignon

The Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley is famed for growing grapes with deep dark fruit flavors and silky complex tannin structures. We contracted our Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from a vineyard nestled at the cooler base of the Mount Veeder foothills thus sustaining ample black cherries, black currant fruit flavors complimented by a complexity of anise, old growth forest duff, raw leather, sage, light roasted Kona coffee and a background aroma of fresh Spring rain with a buttery vanilla oak finish.

This was a consistently cooler growing season with a long hang time that allowed full ripening without rushing the sugar levels (hence not high alcohol). Thus we achieved full varietal and fruit characters of good balance and layers of complexity. The natural acidity of this calm season gave this wine a good backbone of acid that enables long ageability for those with patience.

Serve with black peppered and smoked Margret duck breast, chicken apple sausage stuffed tortellini, and a Waldorf salad. Dessert of dark forest chocolate cake and black Sumatra espresso finish off this expressive meal.


2005 Syrah

This big and richly dark wine has a refined balance and an elegant nature. Fully ripe blueberries, black cherries, and dried currants are the forward flavors supported by characters of Italian roasted espresso, stoutly porters, and Mediterranean spices.

The 2005 season in Hyampom Valley of Trinity County California made well balanced, bright, and refined wines. Spring came in cold and continued to bloom. This coolness facilitated a naturally low yielding season in turn made more concentrated flavored wines than normal. Summer was mild and constantly even in temperature. Consistent with other seasons, 2005 Summer has warm to hot days and very cool nights which preserved the natural acids in the grapes and thus brightened the rich flavors of this vintage. Tannins of this year for the red wines turned out to be smoother than normal and less tannic which balanced out the elegance of our wines. Overall, 2005 was an excellent consistently smooth season which yielded concentrated well balanced wines which enabled us to continue our family legacy of making small lots of honest hand crafted wines that accentuates varietal characters.

Enjoy this wine with Texas spice rubbed and grilled Porter-House steak, Potato Gnocchi pasta and tossed Mediterranean peasant salad and a dessert of fig and raspberry cobbler a la French vanilla mode.


2001 Merlot

This is a wonderfully deep wine with complex aromas of big fresh blueberries and strawberry jam on baked crusty bread resting on sub aromas of Marrakech tobacco and black strap molasses. Flavor - Medium bodied with flavors of dried black current, mulberry, orange zest, and sage. Tannins of dark chocolate send off a buttery scone lingering finish.

2002 began with a dry spring and moderate summer, producing an ideal growing season for our Merlot grapes. Harvested before the early fall freeze that occurred on October 1st, these grapes show the perfection of the season.

Roasted bone-in-pork loin with a sage and cracked peppercorn rub garnished with caramelized red onion and roasted beets make a perfect accompaniment for this wine.


2002 Sangiovese

Fruit driven aromas of blueberry cobbler, fresh red raspberries and lilacs give way to a solid oak backbone holding up flavors of dark chocolate cherry truffles, lavender, cloves and island spice mingled with red currents and vanilla flavors, which persist well in to the blonde tobacco finish of this smooth and appreciable wine.

2002 began with a dry spring and moderate summer, producing an ideal growing season for our Merlot grapes. Harvested before the early fall freeze that occurred on October 1st, these grapes show the perfection of the season.

We suggest you serve this wine along with linguini with pesto and sun dried tomatoes accompanied with meyered lemon rosemary crustini bread.


2005 Pinot Noir

Aroma of black current and cherries with a background of lavender and new leather eluding to flavors of Bing cherries, Thanksgiving allspice, and sage with a lightly oaked finish and a musky earthy background. This wine is well balanced and has silky gentle tannins.

The 2005 season in Hyampom Valley of Trinity County California made well balanced, bright, and refined wines. Spring came in cold and continued to bloom. This coolness facilitated a naturally low yielding season in turn made more concentrated flavored wines than normal. Summer was mild and constantly even in temperature. Consistent with other seasons, 2005 Summer has warm to hot days and very cool nights which preserved the natural acids in the grapes and thus brightened the rich flavors of this vintage. Tannins of this year for the red wines turned out to be smoother than normal and less tannic which balanced out the elegance of our wines. Overall, 2005 was an excellent consistently smooth season which yielded concentrated well balanced wines which enabled us to continue our family legacy of making small lots of honest hand crafted wines that accentuates varietal characters.

Invite friends over and enjoy this wine with stone hearth rotisserie Cornish game hen accompanied by tomato basil risotto with roasted red bell peppers and a dessert of Terra Missou.


2005 Zinfandel

This dark full-bodied wine has complex mingled aromas and flavors of fresh raspberries and loganberries along with a medley of dried blackberries and blueberries. A background of spicy oak and espresso heightens this wine's fruit complexity.

The 2005 season in Hyampom Valley of Trinity County California made well balanced, bright, and refined wines. Spring came in cold and continued to bloom. This coolness facilitated a naturally low yielding season in turn made more concentrated flavored wines than normal. Summer was mild and constantly even in temperature. Consistent with other seasons, 2005 Summer has warm to hot days and very cool nights which preserved the natural acids in the grapes and thus brightened the rich flavors of this vintage. Tannins of this year for the red wines turned out to be smoother than normal and less tannic which balanced out the elegance of our wines. Overall, 2005 was an excellent consistently smooth season which yielded concentrated well balanced wines which enabled us to continue our family legacy of making small lots of honest hand crafted wines that accentuates varietal characters.

Roasted lamb shank marinated with this Zinfandel and drizzled with raspberry reductions sauce with rice pilaf and a dessert of German chocolate cheesecake.


2006 Chardonnay

This wine displays well-balanced fruit and intense aromas of orange blossoms, fresh apples, and vanilla beans that are complimented by flavors of baked Gravenstein apple cobbler and lemon custard cream.

The winter leading into the 2006 season was extremely wet, causing a landslide just beyond the vineyard's boundary. This landslide in turn diverted one of the seasonal creeks that run through the vineyard bringing extra water as well as new silt which provided additional fertilization to the vines. The water and fertilizer stored in the soil over the winter made our vines very vigorous in the spring, leading into a warm and dry summer season, giving the fruit an almost magical quality. This well balanced large crop of 2006 produced grapes that were richer, had more pronounced color, and were more elegant.

Accompany this wine with Caribbean coconut duck curry, vegetable kabobs, and crunchy basil/garlic bread and a dessert of Tortuga Pineapple/Rum Cake.


Awards and Accolades

  • 2009 Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition
  • 2005 Pinot Noir, Gold - Best of Class
  • 2005 Syrah, Gold
  • 2009 Vineyard and Winery Management Magazine's Grand Harvest Awards
  • 2004 Syrah, Silver
  • 2008 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
  • 2005 Pinot Noir, Bronze
  • 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Oak Knoll Napa Valley, Bronze
  • 2006 California State Fair
  • 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bronze
  • 2006 Los Angeles County Fair Wines of the World Competition
  • 2002 Merlot, Silver
  • 2006 West Coast Wine Competition
  • 2003 Syrah, Silver
  • 2006 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
  • 2002 Merlot, Bronze
  • 2003 Syrah, Bronze
  • 2003 Pinot Noir Dijon, Bronze
  • 2005 Florida International Wine Challenge
  • 2001 Sangiovese, Bronze
  • 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bronze
  • 2005 Los Angeles County Fair Wines of the World Competition
  • 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon, Silver
  • 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon, Silver
  • 2005 Los Angeles County Fair Wines of the World Competition - Limited Production
  • 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bronze
  • 2005 California State Fair
  • 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon, Silver
  • 2001 Sangiovese, Bronze
  • 2001 Merlot, Bronze
  • 2004 California State Fair
  • 2001 Sangiovese, Bronze


Product Sheets For Past and Present Vintages

Please click on the links below for information about any of our available wines.

wine barrels