Kenwood Vineyards
2010 Jack London's Vineyard Sonoma Mountain Merlot
Merlot •Jack London's Vineyard
Sonoma Mountain
Mission Briefing
The Lone Wolf
Today’s 2010 Jack London’s Vineyard Sonoma Mountain Merlot is a fantastic and very food friendly wine that we are just in love with. The low price of today’s wine makes us want to stock up so that we have plenty on hand for entertaining - or to enjoy as a lovely daily drinker.
While the wine is beautiful right out of the bottle, allow it to breathe for just a few minutes for a more elegant and flavorful experience. The more the wine opens up, the more lovely the fruit becomes.
Enjoy this approachable, delicious and food-fantastic wine with our hearty recommendation!
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Dark crimson through and through, only ever so slightly translucent, with a softening ruby at the edge. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Everything you love about a merlot, with aromas of stewed blackberry and sweet plum, fresh spring garden, subtle black olive, sage, rosemary, and a touch of black pepper. |
| Taste: | A wonderful representation of merlot, with sweetness from the fruit elegantly balancing against mineral notes. Bright young sweet plum and dark cherry mingle with sweet tobacco leaf, fresh spring garden, .espresso bean, black peppercorn, and a lovely river rock minerality. |
| Finish: | Long and lingering on the finish, with the dark fruit flavors slowly fading, leaving a hint of minerality on the tip of the tongue. |
| Pairing: | A homemade caramelized onion, fresh mushroom, and black olive pizza. |
What the Winery Says
The Jack London vineyard creates distinctive red wines that have a loyal following throughout the world. The red volcanic soil and pleasantly warm climate of this hillside location combine to produce rich, full-bodied wines. Located on Sonoma Mountain with a southeastern exposure, this vineyard is above the fog level and gets early morning sun followed by late afternoon breezes that temper the day’s most extreme heat. The result of this exceptional terroir is grapes of great distinction that make wines with superb flavor and deep, rich color.
The ample 2010 vintage began with a cool spring that gave way to a mild summer. The Jack London vineyard Merlot was harvested in late September and early October. The grapes were crushed and then fermented in stainless steel before aging in French and American oak barrels for 21 months. After aging, the wine was removed from barrels and blended with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon for complexity and balance.
Flavorful aromas of plum and fig combine with delicate hints of sage and pipe tobacco. A full bodied wine with structured tannins and an excellent finish.
- Winemaker
- Pat Henderson
- Appellation
- Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma County, California
- Fruit Variety
- 98% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Cooperage
- 21 months in American and French oak
- ABV
- 13.5%
About the Winery
Kenwood Vineyards was established in 1970 in the former Pagani Brothers Winery, a historic cellar dating back to 1906. Located in the heart of Sonoma Valley, Kenwood Vineyards is dedicated to producing premium wines truly representative of Sonoma County’s world class vineyards.
Each lot from each vineyard is kept separate throughout the winemaking process, enabling the winemaker to bring it to its fullest potential. This “small lot” or “cuvee” style of winemaking enables the winemaker to draw on an exceptionally broad “palette” to assemble wines that showcase classic character, subtle complexity and superb balance. As a result, every Kenwood Vineyards wine is consistent in quality and consistently delicious.
Winemaker Pat Henderson
A veteran of more than thirty years of winemaking, Pat Henderson is currently Senior Winemaker at Kenwood Vineyards in the Sonoma Valley. In addition to his work at Kenwood, he is also a winemaking instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College where he has taught since 1991. A graduate of the Viticulture and Enology program at the University of California at Davis, Pat supplemented his formal education by interning at five different wineries while getting his degree.
After graduation he worked in both the Napa and Sonoma valleys before taking his first position as head winemaker at Hedges Cellars in Washington State in 1995.
After returning from the Northwest he became winemaker at Valley of the Moon Winery working there for six years before returning to Kenwood Vineyards where he had previously served as enologist 10 years before. Pat is a member of The American Society for Enology and Viticulture as well as the Society of Wine Educators and is co-author of the book About Wine; a textbook on wine for culinary students. He has also written articles for Winemaker Magazine and Practical Winery & Vineyard and has judged numerous wine professional competitions.
Vineyard Notes
Kenwood Vineyards’ estate ranches, together with a few selected growers’ vineyards, make up the cornerstone of our flagship wines. With limited yield and great control over quality, each of these ranches has a track record proven over many vintages of producing grapes with exceptional quality, concentration, and distinctive flavors.