First Vintage

1st Vintage Label

Here is your opportunity to buy the first vintage of Red Dog Cellars wine. Red Dog Cellars Red Wine - comprised of 63% Merlot and 34% Syrah. Our wine offers vibrant scents of bing cherry and spicy clove for the nose with brilliant bright red fruit flavors of raspberry, cranberry and pomegranate giving way to smoked meat and white pepper undertones. The solid tannins and balanced acids make your experience enjoyable start to finish! Try a glass and taste for yourself. 

Retail
$176.00*/case
Discounted 3 or more cases
$106.00*/case
By the glass menu listed/Restaurant
$106.00*/case
Resale License/Wholesale
$108.00/case


*(tax included, shipping/sale @8.250% Monterey County tax rate)


Contact: Barbara Short
Cell phone:(831) 915-9897
Email: californyapoppy@aol.com

For any inquiries about the website or marketing please contact J. Cooper by email at websketch@yahoo.com

What is a Merlot?

Merlot

(mer-LOH)

     A Merlot wine has a flavor profile similar to Cabernet Sauvignon, with less distinctive and slightly more herbaceous aromas and flavors. Because of its lower tannins and more forward fruit, it is more approachable than Cabernet Sauvignon. Merlot is often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon in order to soften the blend. At its best, Merlot grapes make a wine that is dry, rich in flavor and smooth as it finishes in your throat. 

     Although it is beloved by many for its approachability and is a dominant part of California and Bordeaux red wines, Merlot is fickle about its weather: it requires a moderate and dry growing region and climate to be at its best. Merlot shows more of the green and herbaceous characteristics when either under- or over- ripe.  Merlot usually has ripe berry components in the bouquet. Its wines tend to be soft, fruity and smooth in texture.  Select Merlot's can have long aging potential but most are ready to consume in 4 to 8 years. Merlot is usually bottled in a Bordeaux (high shouldered) bottle. Most of what you will come across in today's market are likely to be of pretty good quality.

Excerpts from www.redwinebuzz.com and www.cellarnotes.net

About the Arroyo Seco Region

Located in the central Salinas Valley of the Monterey County, Arroyo Seco or the ‘dry creek’, has a transitional climate with cool, foggy weather to the northwest of the AVA and warmer dryer conditions to the southeast. The Salinas River is the largest river of the central coast of California, draining nearly 4,200 square miles. It flows north-northwest and drains the Salinas Valley that slices through the Coast Range south from Monterey Bay. The Salinas is a wildlife corridor, and provides the principal source of water from its reservoirs and tributaries for the farms and vineyards of the valley .A vineyard is often characterised by its terroir, a French term loosely translating as "a sense of place" that refers to the specific geographical and geological characteristics of grapevine plantations, which may be imparted in the wine. Soils found in the canyon are not very fertile, forcing the roots of the vines to dig deep for survival. Here excellent Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah are produced. This region also has high humidity that has enabled Botrytis Cinerea infected dessert wines to be made in favorable vintages.

The canyon widens and ends to the northeast of the Arroyo Seco AVA in the more fertile Salinas Valley where old riverbeds have left distinctive, gravelly, sandy loam soils. Large river stones aid drainage on the more fertile valley floor as well as retaining warmth from the sun during the day, to be radiated back to the vines though the much cooler nights. The stones are part of the secret to the fleshy fruit flavors and fresh acidity found in the Chardonnay, Riesling and Gewurztraminer wines for which this region is renowned. Pinot Noir also thrives in this cooler part of the AVA. The quality of grapes produced in the region has prompted many outside producers to source their grapes from Arroyo Seco.

Excerpts from www.wine-searcher.com, www,wikipedia.org, www.googlemaps.com

What is a Syrah?

Syrah

(si-RAH)

Syrah is an ancient varietal proven by DNA analysis to be a native of the northern Rhone region of France. Prior to this evidence, its origin was disputed between the Rhone region and that around the Persian city of Shiraz – hence the two names for the grape. Sirah is also an accepted and approved alternate spelling. Syrah gives tannic and spicy red wines with significant longevity. Because of its weight, it contributes body and structure to blends with the softer, fruitier Grenache and Mourvèdre. In the southern Rhone, these varieties make up the core of Châteauneuf du Pape reds. Syrah not only needs hot climates but thrives in them - as its rapid propagation in California and Australia demonstrates. It is also widely grown in the southern portion of Oregon, Washington and South Africa. It was first planted in California in 1971 from cuttings from the Hermitage appellation in northern Rhone and Australian Shiraz cuttings (which are said by some to be of Hermitage origin themselves). There was a surge in planting of the variety seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Current reports indicate total California Syrah acreage to be approaching 20,000 acres - which makes up about four percent of California's vineyards.The thick-skinned, very darkly pigmented grapes give inky, deep colored wines described as violet or nearly black. Syrah is very tannic, rich, chewy and textured and is typified by high alcohol and a spice-over-fruit character. The latter tends to be more accentuated in cooler climates where the grapes develop a higher skin-to-pulp ratio. This can be nicely demonstrated by tasting Syrah's from growers spanning the north-south gamut of the Central Coast regions. Although expressivity may vary slightly between different clones, Syrah typically shows black (sometimes white) pepper, licorice, clove, thyme and bay leaf as part of its spice component. The dark fruit typically expressed are blueberries, black currants and blackberries. Syrah may also show cedar or sandalwood notes. As with just about all wines, bottle age brings out cedar, tobacco, earth and leathery notes.

Excerpts from www.redwinebuzz.com, www.wikipedia.com