As seductive as a cherry pie cooling on a windowsill. The aromas of black- and blueberries along with vanilla & violets will have you dancing along tippie-toe, reaching for a second glass. Definitely our most seductive bottling yet full of red and black plums and cherries touched with a hint of vanilla and the allure of violets. The hardest thing about writing about this wine is resisting the temptation just to write taste and aroma descriptors. Another bottle that will expand and unfurl with time in the glass.
It’s about time Merlot staged its comeback and this wine will remind you why that comeback is overdue. We sourced our fruit from the heart of the heart of wine country via Bedrock Vineyard in Sonoma Valley. The Merlot is trained on Geneva Double Curtain (GDC) creating ideal sunlight exposure for ripening and reducing disease pressure (which means healthier fruit that won’t need treatment). We then kissed those grapes with a large-format 400-liter French puncheon to sexy up the fruit.
Harvested on September 23, 2019 and completely destemmed. Natural fermentation with twice daily punchdowns. Élevage using new French 400L puncheon and neutral 228L barrique. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Specs
Vintage: 2019
Varietal: Merlot
Appellation: Sonoma Valley
Vineyard: Bedrock Vineyard
Alcohol: 14.5%
Cases: 39
2020 Filaments Merlot, Bedrock Vineyard
A veritable farmer’s market of dark stone fruit from bright red cherry plums to deep intense Damson plums. There is an oddly satisfying umami character from the way this wine blooms on the nose to the way it fills the mouth with generous fruit leather, compote, and an unexpected touch of anise.
The Bordeaux grape varieties from Bedrock Vineyard are fantastic and we feel the Merlot is a real standout. Even a casual visitor to the vineyard can see the vines yield small portions of uniformly healthy and intensely colored grapes. You ever watch one of those YouTube videos entitled something like ‘Oddly Satisfying Things’? We’d say that about our 2020 Merlot but it’s not odd at all, it offers everything we all know and love about Merlot. Bountiful, deliciously ripe plums take center stage, framed by a certain round savory quality laced through with gentle anise. In the mouth the wine is roundly satisfying with velvety tannins and a clean finish. If you haven’t started your first woodstove fire of the season this is the wine to pop for the occasion.
The merlot was completely destemmed prior to a natural fermentation. With twice daily punch downs the wine spent 16 days on skins. It was barreled down into 400L puncheon and 228L barrique for 17 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Specs
Vintage: 2020
Varietal: Merlot
Appellation: Sonoma Valley
Vineyard: Bedrock Vineyard
Harvested: August 20, 2020
Brix: 23.4
Alcohol: 13.7%
pH: 3.57
Cases: 41
2022 Filaments Merlot, Bedrock Vineyard
Perhaps one of the dumbest/best nicknames for a town I’ve ever heard was Santa Rosa, capital of Sonoma County, that some folks used to describe as ‘the buckle on the prune belt’. Well buckle up folks for a study in plumminess from the garnet-red hue tinged with accents of plum purple to the full deep flavor one can only describe as plum-like and aromas of red stone fruits of all varieties from Morello cherries to Damsons in all states of ripeness. There is a touch of tannin on the finish for the sake of enjoying with food but this is more a wine to be drunk than a drink to be chewed.
The fruit is farmed practicing regenerative techniques that includes biochar, cover crops, roller crimping, native hedge rows and owl boxes. The Merlot is trained on Geneva Double Curtain (GDC) creating ideal sunlight exposure for ripening and reducing disease pressure (which means healthier fruit that won’t need treatment). Harvested on September 7th, 2022. The merlot was completely destemmed prior to fermentation. Twice daily punch downs during a natural fermentation spending 21 days on skins.
Wine was barreled down into 400L puncheon and 228L barrique for 17 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Specs
Vintage: 2022
Varietal: Merlot
Appellation: Sonoma Valley
Vineyard: Bedrock Vineyard
Alcohol: 14.5%
Cases: 56
The Vineyard
Bedrock Vineyard is an historic vineyard located in Sonoma Valley AVA off of Madrone Road. The 150-acre ranch sits on the valley floor between the Mayacamas and Sonoma mountain ranges. The vineyard has plantings dating back to 1880s. The old vines are head trained and are a field blend of 27 differing varieties, including Zinfandel, Syrah, Carignan, and Mourvèdre. There are more recent plantings of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties trained on Geneva double curtain (GDC) system. Bedrock has four primary soil types: Tuscan cobbley clay loam, Los Robles gravely clay loam, Red Hill clay loam and Huichica loam, all coming from the Mayacamas mountains. The vineyard is overseen by Joel Peterson and his son, Morgan Twain-Peterson. Joel and Morgan are two of the most incredible human beings you could ever hope to meet. Check out their interviews on I’ll Drink to That! podcast (Episode 460 & 236). They are stewards of Bedrock Vineyard, practicing regenerative farming that includes biochar, cover crops, roller crimping, native hedge rows and owl boxes.
A filament is any one connecting thread in a larger tapestry of things —
It could be found among the roots and living soil of a conscientiously grown vineyard tied together in symbiosis with its environment. It could be a couple of California boys supporting growers they believe in and highlighting special places. It could be you discovering unique expressions of grapes grown in unique places. If a wine is bottled sunshine let us be the filament that lets that sun shine.
Kevin Farrow and Erik Latshaw met at UCLA, rooming together senior year and utilizing Erik’s employee discount at Wally’s Wine & Spirits to taste their way through European wines and drink a not-insignificant amount of Château DeLord Bordeaux. Kevin had grown up in Escondido in Southern California and Erik had grown up in Felton, CA in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Erik and Kevin continued to drink wine together over the years and Erik found himself on the production side of the wine world, working a harvest internship at Patz & Hall Winery in 2012. There Erik met Morgan Twain-Peterson at Bedrock Wine Co. which led to Kevin working for Bedrock in 2014. The following harvest Morgan gave Kevin one ton of Merlot to work with and Filaments Wine began.
We’re confident that the sites we have selected are special and we think our job is to bring those sites to your taste buds. As such we’re not aiming for some “house style” that you can rely on to make all our wines taste alike— where’s the fun in that? We feel nature does the heavy lifting and we do our best not to get in the way. Our approach is “less is more”. We pick the fruit with an aim towards limiting additions. We rely on native yeasts to ferment. We raise up the wines in large neutral oak puncheons to create a complete wine that has been educated without being turned into a snob. Wines are bottled without fining or filtration. Small amounts of SO2 are used to prevent spoilage.
Available States
AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Labrat reporting for duty. Unfortunately UPS was not kind to our bottle and what was meant to be an overnight shipment, ended up being held over the weekend in an unusually very hot coastal warehouse. Our bottle arrived corked. Casemates is sending a replacement and I hope it gets it here before the offer expires. We got the 2020 vintage and were looking forward to reporting as we have had not had a Merlot from Casemates in a while. Thank you Terry and Casemates.We hope to be reporting back.
Lab rats checking in. We got the 2022. Pop and pour Saturday night with the NBA Finals in the background. Leftovers on Sunday when the Stanley Cup was clinched. Know what else smells like winning? The price point of this offering from casemates. I definitely would’ve pegged this north of $20. It’s got beautiful structure and complexity to it. There was something about the mid palate that I didn’t love, but it could just be in an awkward phase.
Appearance: Deep ruby to garnet, clear, opaque core
Nose: Cherry and black cherry, with a touch of menthol
Palate: Medium mouthfeel with present acidity and tannins; a slight bitterness mid-palate that may soften with air. Varietally correct, with some heft reminiscent of Wellington merlots or Bordeaux.
Finish: Long
Overall: A well-made, complex, and serious wine for a Sonoma merlot — more structured than the winery’s “drink, don’t chew” framing on their website suggests. Tannic backbone points to real aging potential, likely 5-10 years to peak. Punches above its weight; a cellar candidate rather than a Tuesday pour.
Labrat here. I had the 2019 vintage. Pretty good stuff right in its drinking window. On day one the pnp nose was a bit alcoholic for my wife, I found also detected the alcohol burn but I also picked up a bramble aroma. Initial taste was tart cherries and maybe blackberry or plum? After an initial 15 minute wait the nose cleared up and my spouse said she smelled some earthiness. I still got a bramble leaning more towards the wood than the fruit. Flavor wise I got more tart cherries and some mildly sweet blackberry. Finish was decently long with a good acid backbone that cut nicely through our rib roast dinner. The wine also paired very well with some Trader Joe’s chocolate truffles. Good wine that worked well with food.
Day two the wine, about 1.5 glasses of wine, was stored just with a cork. Flavor wise and nose it was pretty similar to day one with maybe a touch of fade on the fruit. I preferred it on day one. Had it it some deer tacos and it wasn’t ideal but it held up well enough. I think the acid makes this a solid food wine.
All in all this is a solid Sonoma wine. This wine reminds me of the solid wines of the past that you could enjoy with friends on an everyday meal. It didn’t have to be a special occasion to pop and pour something. The Casemates price combined with the quality makes this a very solid yes.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
Filaments Bedrock Vineyard Merlot - $30 = 15.00%
Filaments Bedrock Vineyard Merlot
2019 Filaments Merlot, Bedrock Vineyard
Specs
2020 Filaments Merlot, Bedrock Vineyard
Specs
2022 Filaments Merlot, Bedrock Vineyard
Specs
The Vineyard
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not available on winery website, $360/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Jul 6 - Tuesday, Jul 7
Filaments Bedrock Vineyard Merlot
6 bottles for $99.99 $16.67/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $169.99 $14.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2019
2020
2022
Labrat reporting for duty. Unfortunately UPS was not kind to our bottle and what was meant to be an overnight shipment, ended up being held over the weekend in an unusually very hot coastal warehouse. Our bottle arrived corked. Casemates is sending a replacement and I hope it gets it here before the offer expires. We got the 2020 vintage and were looking forward to reporting as we have had not had a Merlot from Casemates in a while. Thank you Terry and Casemates.We hope to be reporting back.
@danandlisa corked or cooked?
@kaolis Both. It was corked and cooked. Portland was 100 over the weekend.
@danandlisa corked has nothing to do with temperature though. Perhaps you’re making a separate point, unsure.
Top notch vineyard and a winery I’ve been wanting to try? Chicago split for fall delivery?
Lab rats checking in. We got the 2022. Pop and pour Saturday night with the NBA Finals in the background. Leftovers on Sunday when the Stanley Cup was clinched. Know what else smells like winning? The price point of this offering from casemates. I definitely would’ve pegged this north of $20. It’s got beautiful structure and complexity to it. There was something about the mid palate that I didn’t love, but it could just be in an awkward phase.
Appearance: Deep ruby to garnet, clear, opaque core
Nose: Cherry and black cherry, with a touch of menthol
Palate: Medium mouthfeel with present acidity and tannins; a slight bitterness mid-palate that may soften with air. Varietally correct, with some heft reminiscent of Wellington merlots or Bordeaux.
Finish: Long
Overall: A well-made, complex, and serious wine for a Sonoma merlot — more structured than the winery’s “drink, don’t chew” framing on their website suggests. Tannic backbone points to real aging potential, likely 5-10 years to peak. Punches above its weight; a cellar candidate rather than a Tuesday pour.
complete with bonus math homework!
Tried to put pictures in this thread, but they ended up in a separate post - scroll down. I always struggle with posting these from my phone.
@aces219
Naw, they’re all right above in your LRR post
@rjquillin thank you!
Labrat here. I had the 2019 vintage. Pretty good stuff right in its drinking window. On day one the pnp nose was a bit alcoholic for my wife, I found also detected the alcohol burn but I also picked up a bramble aroma. Initial taste was tart cherries and maybe blackberry or plum? After an initial 15 minute wait the nose cleared up and my spouse said she smelled some earthiness. I still got a bramble leaning more towards the wood than the fruit. Flavor wise I got more tart cherries and some mildly sweet blackberry. Finish was decently long with a good acid backbone that cut nicely through our rib roast dinner. The wine also paired very well with some Trader Joe’s chocolate truffles. Good wine that worked well with food.
Day two the wine, about 1.5 glasses of wine, was stored just with a cork. Flavor wise and nose it was pretty similar to day one with maybe a touch of fade on the fruit. I preferred it on day one. Had it it some deer tacos and it wasn’t ideal but it held up well enough. I think the acid makes this a solid food wine.
All in all this is a solid Sonoma wine. This wine reminds me of the solid wines of the past that you could enjoy with friends on an everyday meal. It didn’t have to be a special occasion to pop and pour something. The Casemates price combined with the quality makes this a very solid yes.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
Filaments Bedrock Vineyard Merlot - $30 = 15.00%
@Mark_L
Ha!