The Hyde family is known for their expertise in growing cool-climate grape varietals in the Carneros region of the Napa Valley. They originally planted Hyde Vineyard in the 1970s. Their Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays are well known around the world, and their Merlot isn’t one to let those alone share the spotlight. This Merlot is meticulously farmed, which gives the Bouchaine winemaking team the amazing opportunity to translate that incredible terroir into the bottle.

Growing Season
The 2021 growing season will be remembered as a winemaker’s vintage. Not too cold, not too hot, not too wet, and no frost. However, we were in the grips of a multiyear drought. While we enjoy dry farming when we have average rainfall, in vintages where the rainfall is half of average (like 2021) we do irrigate to allow for ideal shoot growth and ripening. Bouchaine is lucky to have a huge reservoir so we were able to irrigate early in the season to get our vine canopies full. Drought conditions do have some positives when it comes to winemaking as they bring us smaller berries with beautifully concentrated flavors at harvest. We also lucked out with consistent weather throughout the summer giving us ideal ripening at an even pace. A little sun, a bit of water, and a lot of hard work in the vineyard allowed us to bring in a killer 2021 vintage!

Vinification
All fruit is hand harvested at night, preserving berry integrity. After a 7-day cold soak, fruit is fermented with native yeast in an open top tank. Postfermentation, the wine is drawn off and the must placed into a basket press for gentle pressing. The wine completes malolactic fermentation in French oak barrels and puncheons and is aged on the lees for 18 months before bottling.

Tasting Notes
Historians look to the past, learn from our mistakes, and use that knowledge to make our future brighter. By that reasoning, Larry Hyde is a true historian of Carneros. Over forty years of grape growing in a single region of Napa will teach you a thing or two, and we have the good fortune of seeing that decades-long quest represented in our Hyde Vineyard Merlot from a block planted in 1986. This isn’t just a cool-climate old vine Merlot, full of both grace and boldness. This is a history lesson in a bottle, a master class given by the King of Carneros. Open a bottle and make your future brighter!