After a very gray, long winter, spring seems to have finally arrived in Walla Walla! And what announces the arrival of spring in Walla Walla more than seeing the bottling truck pulled up to Pepper Bridge? Every spring, like the return of robins or the blooming of daffodils, it is time to bottle wine in Walla Walla. 
After spending the last 18 months resting in barrel, the 2007 Merlot is in the bottle and ready to go. Well, not really ready to go. It will have to stay put in bottle for another 6 months before we have a chance to start drinking it. We will have to be patient, but it is going to be difficult. I have been hearing rumors about the 2007 vintage since 2007, whispers and hints that it is the best vintage yet. When Jean-Francois tells you that a wine is going to be great it is best to take his word for it. Still, as a non-winemaker it is exceedingly difficult to gauge how a wine is going to taste when it is brand new and two years away from being a finished product. I do much better at tasting the finished product, and let me tell you the finished 2007 Merlot is delicious. 
For the most part I don't care for tasting wine as it is being bottled. When the wine passes through tanks and hoses and into the bottling truck and into a bottle, and then you taste it right away, for me it tastes an awful lot like all of the above, tanks, hoses, bottling truck. I prefer to wait until the wine as had a chance to chill out and recover from bottling before I taste it. However, the 2007 Merlot tasted amazing even through the bottling. It is rich and earthy and complex. I can't wait to taste it again. I thought that 2005 was my favorite Merlot but I think it has been dethroned by the 2007. The only trouble being that we have another 6 months to wait till we get to start drinking it. Patience...
After spending the last 18 months resting in barrel, the 2007 Merlot is in the bottle and ready to go. Well, not really ready to go. It will have to stay put in bottle for another 6 months before we have a chance to start drinking it. We will have to be patient, but it is going to be difficult. I have been hearing rumors about the 2007 vintage since 2007, whispers and hints that it is the best vintage yet. When Jean-Francois tells you that a wine is going to be great it is best to take his word for it. Still, as a non-winemaker it is exceedingly difficult to gauge how a wine is going to taste when it is brand new and two years away from being a finished product. I do much better at tasting the finished product, and let me tell you the finished 2007 Merlot is delicious. 
For the most part I don't care for tasting wine as it is being bottled. When the wine passes through tanks and hoses and into the bottling truck and into a bottle, and then you taste it right away, for me it tastes an awful lot like all of the above, tanks, hoses, bottling truck. I prefer to wait until the wine as had a chance to chill out and recover from bottling before I taste it. However, the 2007 Merlot tasted amazing even through the bottling. It is rich and earthy and complex. I can't wait to taste it again. I thought that 2005 was my favorite Merlot but I think it has been dethroned by the 2007. The only trouble being that we have another 6 months to wait till we get to start drinking it. Patience...
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