2018 Sbragia Merlot, Home Ranch, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
Our Home Ranch Vineyard, which we’ve farmed for decades, surrounds the family home at the southern end of Dry Creek Valley, consistently producing richly concentrated Merlot grapes from the soil’s rocky clay loam components. It weaves hypnotically through herbal, earthy notes of sage into cherry cola, clove, and cedar. A vibrant acidity brightens up the blackberry, black currant, mocha, and plum flavors. Well structured, our Merlot tapers with a round, lush finish.
Specs
Varietal: 95% Merlot, 5% Petite Sirah
Appellation: Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley
Vineyard: Home Ranch Vineyard
Harvest: September 28th, 2018
Cooperage: Aged 18 months in 60% new French oak barrels and 40% in 1-year-old oak barrels
Barrels: 100% French Oak - 30% New
Alcohol: 14.7%
pH: 3.5
TA: 6.3
Cases Produced: 912
What’s Included
6-bottles:
6x 2018 Sbragia Merlot, Home Ranch, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County Case:
12x 2018 Sbragia Merlot, Home Ranch, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Our family’s history in Sonoma County dates back to my grandfather, who came from Tuscany in 1904 and worked in many wineries, including the historic Italian Swiss Colony. For decades, we grew prunes like most farms in Dry Creek Valley at the time, and in the 1950s, my father, Gino Sbragia, replanted the fields on our property to wine grapes, mainly Zinfandel, which I helped tend all through my youth. Gino sold most of the grapes to other wineries, yet kept a small amount to make into wine at home. He had an old-world philosophy that winemaking was a natural process; all you needed for good wine was good land, good grapes, and good techniques. He was right, and that has been my guiding principle since the start of my career.
Gino’s dream was to start a family winery, to make wine from our own grapes with our family name on the label. His dream became mine, and I made a promise to him that I would fulfill it and bring over a century of our family’s hard work into a winery that produces wines that reflect our winemaking heritage here in Dry Creek Valley. In August 2006, we opened the doors to Sbragia Family Vineyards.
After 32 years as the Winemaster at Beringer Vineyard in Napa Valley, I’ve had one foot in Sonoma and the other in Napa. Both areas mean a lot to me emotionally; I’m more attached to Healdsburg and Dry Creek Valley because it’s where I raised my kids, but the wines that I’ve made at Beringer are like children. Either way, the wines Sbragia Family Vineyards produces from both Sonoma and Napa are intensely personal, an expression of single vineyard terroir, and history that runs through it all.
I’m proud to say my son Adam now makes our wines. He has found the perfect balance of honoring how Gino and I made wine and putting his own stylistic stamp on the bottle. He continues the pedigree of high scores, awards won, and a profile of altogether big, rich, polished, and most importantly, delicious Chardonnays, Zinfandels, and Cabernets.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
2018 Sbragia Family Vineyards Merlot
So excited to get a chance to Rat again! I got the 2018 Sbragia Merlot and on first glance it is a deeply, opaque almost plum color (still closer to the red side than purple) that appears very rich. It is still a bit warm in my area (between 80 - 85 degrees Fahrenheit), so I put it in the fridge as soon as I got it. I pulled it out and let it sit a bit to come up to room temperature. First sniffles and I can smell cola and black cherry with something creamy in the back end. I have decided to call it vanilla. First sips and I get some of the fruit, none of the creaminess, and a lot of minerality that I have decided to call “carbon.” This is pretty dry, but not heavy and as it warmed up some of the sugar came through to mellow out the taste a bit more, but the carbony taste remained (in a good way). Although I was able to get this wine in advance, I got forgetful so I was not able to prepare a meal that I feel made sense to have with a Merlot and I ended up drinking this wine with some crab legs, salad, and a baked potato (I know, not even a steak for some surf n’ turf!). My bad! The good news is that the wine really helped to cleanse the palate with the decadent meal (tons of butter for the crab and the potato!), but it lost a lot of its personality in the process. I think this wine would pair better with a pork chop or a nice steak with a semi-decadent sauce that won’t overpower it too much or a nice charcuterie board with hard cheeses might work as well. As the temperature eventually cools in my neck of the woods, I think I would drink a wine like this a lot more on its own or with a little snack. Overall, I enjoyed it and had no problem drinking the rest of the bottle!
2018 Sbragia Merlot, Home Ranch, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$421.20/Case for 12x 2018 Sbragia Merlot, Home Ranch, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County at Sbragia Family Vineyards
About The Winery
Sbragia Family Vineyards
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Oct 27 - Tuesday, Oct 28
2018 Sbragia Merlot
6 bottles for $79.99 $13.33/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $129.99 $10.83/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2018 Sbragia Family Vineyards Merlot
So excited to get a chance to Rat again! I got the 2018 Sbragia Merlot and on first glance it is a deeply, opaque almost plum color (still closer to the red side than purple) that appears very rich. It is still a bit warm in my area (between 80 - 85 degrees Fahrenheit), so I put it in the fridge as soon as I got it. I pulled it out and let it sit a bit to come up to room temperature. First sniffles and I can smell cola and black cherry with something creamy in the back end. I have decided to call it vanilla. First sips and I get some of the fruit, none of the creaminess, and a lot of minerality that I have decided to call “carbon.” This is pretty dry, but not heavy and as it warmed up some of the sugar came through to mellow out the taste a bit more, but the carbony taste remained (in a good way). Although I was able to get this wine in advance, I got forgetful so I was not able to prepare a meal that I feel made sense to have with a Merlot and I ended up drinking this wine with some crab legs, salad, and a baked potato (I know, not even a steak for some surf n’ turf!). My bad! The good news is that the wine really helped to cleanse the palate with the decadent meal (tons of butter for the crab and the potato!), but it lost a lot of its personality in the process. I think this wine would pair better with a pork chop or a nice steak with a semi-decadent sauce that won’t overpower it too much or a nice charcuterie board with hard cheeses might work as well. As the temperature eventually cools in my neck of the woods, I think I would drink a wine like this a lot more on its own or with a little snack. Overall, I enjoyed it and had no problem drinking the rest of the bottle!
/giphy forceful-errant-parsnip
@casemates My coupon for buying Desert Wind 2019 Ruah Estate Vineyard did not work BOOO!