Merlot
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2027
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck, grilled pork chops, rosemary-infused lamb
✨ Technical Specifications
Scheid Vineyards' Merlot is a beautiful expression of Monterey County's unique climate. While the northern Salinas Valley is famously cold and windy, Scheid strategically plants their Merlot in the warmer, southern microclimates of their estate vineyards, such as the San Lucas and Hames Valley AVAs. Here, the grapes bask in intense daytime sun, allowing the variety's signature black cherry, plum, and cocoa flavors to develop fully, while the brisk evening winds sweeping down from Monterey Bay preserve a vibrant, balancing acidity. Crafted at their state-of-the-art, wind-powered estate winery, this Merlot is aged in a combination of French and American oak barrels, yielding a velvety, medium-to-full-bodied red with supple tannins and a smooth, elegant finish.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1972 by pioneer Al Scheid, Scheid Vineyards began as an ambitious viticultural venture in southern Monterey County, initially supplying fruit to major California wineries before evolving into a vertically integrated estate wine producer. Spanning more than 3,000 acres across a 70-mile expanse of the Salinas Valley—encompassing microclimates across the Monterey, Arroyo Seco, and Hames Valley AVAs—the estate leverages thermal diurnal shifts driven by maritime winds off Monterey Bay. Viticulture balances alluvial gravel, decomposed granite, and clay-loam soils across twelve distinct ranch sites, farmed under SIP Certified and Certified California Sustainable standards, with the winery fully powered by an onsite wind turbine. Winemaking prioritizes varietal clarity, tension, and texture across an eclectic portfolio, celebrated for vibrant Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, aromatic Viognier, racy Dry Riesling, and rare regional white bottlings such as Petit Manseng and Roussanne.
🍇 Grapes
Merlot
🍷 ABV
14-14.5%