2021 LITTLE SISTER

The merlot for the 2021 Little Sister is a combination to two premium vineyards: Quintessence on Red Mountain and Red Willow in the upper Yakima Valley. The merlot from Quintessence was planted in 2011, on a south facing slope, in soils consisting of fractured basalt and gravel with a light dusting of fine Loess. The merlot from Red Willow was planted in 1993 on a steep westerly facing slope, in soils that combine 16”-20” of gravel mixed with calcareous clay over volcanic pumice. Bud break and bloom in 2021 were earlier than normal. The weather was hot throughout much of the growing season. Like 2020, the 2021 vintage produced exceptionally low yields. Berries were remarkably small, and clusters were extremely light. This led to wines with amazing depth and intensity. Each block was hand harvested the third week in September. The wine was fermented in a combination of 1.5, 2 and 5-ton open top fermenters for 7-10 days. The wine is lightly pressed to barrel, where it finishes primary and malolactic fermentation and is aged for 21 months in 60% new French oak. The wine was racked twice prior to bottling.