Clarissa Vin Rouge 2019

Clarissa Vin Rouge is a Meritage, a soft, complex American Bordeaux-style wine for medium-soft, complex foods.

Clarissa is an elegant, refined wine, that is in perfect balance with a purity of fruit, uniquely designed by Bill to complement medium-soft foods that include some of the flavors like garlic, brine, tomato, anchovy, cloves, etc.

The 2019 Clarissa has a very broad, expansive bouquet, full of complexity with layers of blackberry, cedar and a touch of mint.

This has nice vivacity, featuring plum and cassis notes (macerated black currants, giving it a rich, layered dark-berry flavor balanced by the tannins and tartness you might associate with blackberries) laced with herbal accents of bay leaves, pepper and mild tobacco.

The wine will attain even more nuance with a little aeration in the glass.

The palate is medium-bodied with plenty of fruit concentration: layers of ripe blackberry and boysenberry, segueing into what feels like a very complex and rich coating of the entire mouth that seems to last forever on the palate.

It is a wonderful follow-up to the 2018 last year, with similar audacity and bravado remaining fresh and racy through the finish.

Thanks to abundant rain in spring, vines were given a healthy start. The weather through the growing season was even with only moderate heat events, followed by cool and steady weather through harvest.

Naturally the blend is complex and comprises, in order of quantity, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec blended from our vineyards located in Napa-Atlas Peak, Sonoma Mountain, Chalk Hill, Red Hills and Dry Creek Valley.

French Oak for 22 months, approximately 40% new, 40% one use and the balance neutral.

Cases produced = 504. No allergens were used in the making of this wine.

Color	Red
Vintage	2018
Style	Bordeaux, Red
Appellation	North Coast
Varietal	Bordeaux Blend
Date Bottled	26th Jul 2021
Drinkable	2022 - 2029
Alcohol	14.40%
Bottle Size	750ml