2018 Frank Family Vineyards Merlot

Buy 2018 Frank Family Vineyards Merlot at Elite Wine Society

About Frank Family Vineyards Merlot 2018:

Exceptional Merlot awarded 98 Points, Double Gold Best of Class – 2021 Sunset International Wine Competition.

Tasting Notes:

Frank Family Vineyards Merlot opens up with fresh plums that intertwine with coffee and cedar mixing effortlessly with blackberries and baking spice.  This Merlot is complex and elegant… offering smooth layers of pomegranate and dark chocolate that carries through the persistent finish. Long and elegant with exceptional mouthfeel. Will easily cellar for another 5-7 years.

Barrel Selection:

18 months in 33% new and 67% once and twice-filled French oak barrels

Growing Notes:

Sourced from their family-owned Benjamin Vineyard in Rutherford as well as several of their closest neighbors and long-term grape growers, Delouise, Round Pond Estate, and Sunseri Vineyards located in Oak Knoll, Rutherford, and Chiles Valley respectively.

Harvest Dates: September 21 – October 19, 2018

Winemaking Notes:

Blend of 85% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc by winemaker Todd Graff

Frank Family grows several acres of Merlot on their Rutherford properties, which they often blend with their Cabernet Sauvignons to add softness and a more rounded mouthfeel.

About The Winery:

Frank Family Vineyards has a small winery mentality, where everything they do has the smallest details in mind. They use only 100% French oak barrels, their refined elegance lending itself to the wines of the same. In 2008, the winery fully renovated with all state-of-the-art equipment. From small-lot fermentation to bottling. Everything done on-property, perfecting the many styles within each varietal for fine wines without the grandiose.

Winemaker and General Manager Todd Graff is behind Frank Family’s reputation. As a world-class producer of Napa Valley Cabernet and Chardonnay and their Napa Green certification for both land and winery. Prior to joining the family in 2003, Todd’s career began across the globe, where he worked at the steep slate vineyards of Weingut Klaus Schweicher in Mosel, Germany, the sandy soils of Château Yon-Figeac in St.-Émilion, France, and the decomposed granite and sandstone loam soils of Arrowfield Estate in Australia’s Hunter Valley, among others.

Todd honed his craft and grew his technical skills throughout wineries in Napa Valley, including his time as Assistant Winemaker at Stag’s Leap Winery, as Assistant Winemaker and Vineyard Manager at Schramsberg Vineyards, as Sparkling Winemaker at Cordoniu in Napa (now Artesa), and as Winemaker at Sonoma Creek Winery. He played an essential role in our winery’s steady growth over the past 19 vintages including our recognization as “Winery of the Year” by the Connoisseur’s Guide to California Wine in both 2012 and 2017. In 2020, Todd was named “Napa Winemaker of the Year” by the North Bay Business Journal as a result of his positive contributions to the wine industry.