VinoWeek - Episode 43 - Merry Edwards Hands the Reigns to Roederer

After 45 years in the winemaking business Merry Edwards has decided to slow down. Merry and her husband Ken Coopersmith have sold all their wine holding to the Louis Roederer Champagne house. Roederer, a family owned business already owns three wineries in Mendocino County and plans to keep Merry around through the transition. Bushfires in Australia have been difficult this harvest season, especially at Topper’s Mountain Vineyard where a fire wiped out the entire crop just hours before the scheduled harvest. Lamberto Frescobaldi, owner of Frescobaldi Tuscan wine empire is doing his part to cut down on recidivism. He has established a wine growing culture on the prison island of Gorgona, not far from the Ligurian Riviera. The wines are said to be compelling and expensive. Bill and I discuss these topics and many more in this weeks addition of VinoWeek. Thanks to everyone for listening. Cheers!

The wine of the week is the 2016 Artezin Old Vine Zinfandel. This wine is made by Randle Johnson of Hess Collection fame. Hess collection is a huge operation and has wineries in California, Argentina and South Africa. The wine has a deep purple color and features a red fruit nose of raspberries, cherries and white pepper. You get all the classic Zinfandel notes on the palate without the over the top jaminess you often get with less refined efforts. Medium bodied and well balanced, a nice touch of baking spice accompanies a medium length finish. 14.5 abv $12 - $16

Two wines we enjoyed this week