Pennywise

2009 Merlot

Notes

With purple ruby color, this blend has aromas of blackberry, Paso Dust, fire roasted pepper, and vanilla. In the mouth, this blend bursts of fresh cherries, summer sweet strawberry, and cranberry sauce held together with toasted hazelnut, dark chocolate, and sandalwood. The finish shows more tart cranberry nuances with espresso, sarsaparilla, and cinnamon spice.

The 2009 Pennywise Merlot came together as a marriage of three lots. All brought nice nuances to the blend from three growing districts. The Paso Merlot hung late into the 2009 summer and brought great ripe cherry notes as well as earthy Paso Robles dust and espresso notes to the blend. Northern Interior Valley Merlot is pure fruit with all sweet red fruit flavors. Lastly, the Napa Merlot leg brought depth in oak and tannins to the blend. This lot presented vanilla oak as well as dark chocolate and spice notes. These legs work wonderfully together to make a harmonious glass of wine full of fruit and complex notes of spice and oak.

Pairings

Pair this great glass of Merlot with Cuban sandwiches with sweet potato fries, a grilled sweet Italian sausage on a soft roll with grilled sweet peppers, or with chicken enchiladas with a mole sauce alongside whole pinto beans simmered with bacon.