WINEMAKER NOTES
2019 Madden Vineyard Merlot starts with a dark and spicy nose that invites the consumer to explore more. Dried cherries, plum, fig jam, and hints of white pepper linger on the nose. The wine opens up to brighter fruit notes and rose petals as you swirl. Diving into the palate you find a smooth and silky texture that brings forward sweet fig, plum and Madagascar vanilla bean. The middle showcases raspberry jam and bing cherry and comes to a silky finish of blackberry. Overall this wine is a crowd pleaser that has an old world feel with a little new world complexity. Wine will age beautifully for years to come but drinking wonderfully now! Recommended with flank steak or grilled pork chop and lots of fresh greens.
WINEMAKING TECHNIQUES
Clusters were hand harvested early morning to ensure gentle processing of cool fruit. At the winery, the grapes were hand sorted, destemmed, crushed to release the juice and start the extraction process from the skins. The grapes were then fermented in a jacketed open top tank. With pump overs conducted twice a day, where we use a pump to take the juice from below the skins and pump it back up and over all the skins to break down and extract color from the skins. At dryness, the grapes were pressed to tank and racked clean into a combination of 40% new French oak barrels for 24 months aging.
FRUIT SOURCE: MADDEN FAMILY VINEYARDS
Approximately 10 miles northeast of Healdsburg California sits this gem of a vineyard. Nestled in the heart of the Dry Creek Valley surrounded by forested hills to the south and neighboring vineyards all around. This site experiences cool morning fog and evening breezes that imbue the fruit with its vibrant freshness. The summer daytime averages are in the mid 80’s to low 90’s allowing the fruit to build the rich flavors you will see showcased in the finished product. These vines are planted in Yolo Loam Soil and the family chose the rootstock and clone specifically for this location. There is a rich family history to this vineyard as well. Originally purchased by Ray and Louise Madden in 1970 the property was planted to prunes, head trained zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Napa Gamay. In 1997 the Maddens decided to plant Merlot in this location and we are so happy they did. Today the vineyards are managed by 3 generations of farmers, Louise Madden, Ed Madden and Todd Madden. The vineyard is planted to 11 acres of Merlot, 10 acres of Zinfandel (5 of which were originally planted in 1968) and 6 acres of Primitivo. We are extremely fortunate to get the 2 tons of Merlot from the Maddens as the rest of the vineyard is sold to a major producer. We are also proud to produce the first Madden Family Vineyard designated wine. Vintage Notes 2019 started out with a long winter, bringing and abundance of rain that went well into spring. This resulted in a late bloom and slower but longer growing season. We were about 2 weeks behind average expected harvest dates. The pros to this were that we retained more natural acidity in the grapes and were able to capture more of our late summer sunshine to develop flavors. The vintage proved to bring some stellar grapes in through the door and produced some quality wines packed with lots of fruit flavors and bright, fresh acidity. The fires of 2019 did not affect any of our wines as we were fully in tank and barrel by the time they arrived.
THE WINERY
Bailarín Cellars was created in 2014 by a collective of family and friends, each following their respective passions. Together we focus on producing small lots of handcrafted wines from unique vineyard sources. We are proud to share the fruits of our labor and love with you.