Hearst Ranch Winery "Pico Creek" Merlot (Summer Hold)

Tasting notes & discussion 1

This wine will ship in OCTOBER 2025. If you want it ASAP, click here!

Typically $42/bottle from Hearst Ranch Winery
Vintage 2021 & 2022 from Paso Robles
Available for AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY
Use coupon code KAOLISCAVE to save $10 on this or any other Casemates event this summer. (One use per account, account must have been created before 6/9/2025, coupon expires 8/31/2025.)
Sold by participating winery or licensee, fulfilled by Wine Country Connect

About Hearst Ranch Winery: “Founded in 2010 by friends, Jim Saunders and Steve Hearst, Hearst Ranch Winery is a premium producer of wines from their estate Paso Robles vineyard. The Saunders and Hearst families are stewards of the land, passionate about the quality of wines crafted, and committed to sharing their rich legacy with the next generation.”

Pico de Creeko

TASTING NOTES:
2022 - “Elegant, earthy notes of wet clay, baking spices and raspberries hint at this wine’s elegance. Medium-bodied on the palate, flavors of wild strawberries, raspberries and rich oak meld to create a wine with excellent balance and finely textured tannins.” (AbV 13.2%, pH 3.50, TA 0.58 g/100mL)

2021 - “While this wine’s garnet hue charms the eye, the nose engages our senses with aromas of lingonberries, raspberries and rose petals. The wine’s palate is elegant and refined, reminiscent of a strawberry – cranberry tart. Lovely as an aperitif, this wine will drink well over the next 5 years.” (AbV 14.3%, pH 3.46, TA 0.58 g/100mL)

VARIETALS: 2022 is 80% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot. 2021 is 77% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot.

BARRELS: Mostly neutral oak, with a touch of new or once-used French and American oak.

PAIRS WITH: N/A

THAT REMINDS ME OF: Pico de gallo.

A common salsa also known as salsa fresca (due to the fresh ingredients) or salsa bandera (since it has the colors of the Mexican flag), pico de gallo literally translates to the beak of a rooster. Usually it involves finely diced tomatoes, onions, and peppers garnished with lime juice, cilantro, and salt.

There isn’t a clear answer as to why it’s been called that. Some think it’s because you used to eat it with your hands, pinching it between your fingers, which caused them to have a rooster’s beak shape. Others believe it’s due to the minced texture of it, like chicken feed (if chicken feed were moist). Whatever it was, people love their “rooster beak.”

ICYMI, you have two choices:

Worried Summer heat might get to your wine before your wine gets to you? Order from this sale, the page you’re on right now, and we’ll get it to you at a cooler time of year (October)!
Want it ASAP, don’t think heat will be a problem? Order from the sale linked here! We’ll still try to get them to you with as little travel time as we can.

Hearst Ranch Winery "Pico Creek" Merlot (Summer Hold)

This wine will ship in OCTOBER 2025. If you want it ASAP, click here!

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