1999 Merlot Donnell Sonoma Valley

Ravenswood previously made extensive use of egg white fining to manage tannins, said assistant winemaker Peter Mathis, "but now we prefer only light filtration using diatomaceous earth. Fining is like surgery, to be used only as a last resort. Today we try to get the tannins right at the fermenter so that we won't have to manipulate the wine later. We take the wines off their skins faster if we find that they are getting hard." Mathis ventured the opinion that the '99s may resemble the superb '91s made here (the '91 Old Hill zin was the standout vintage in a vertical tasting I conducted two years ago), as there were many similarities between the two years. During the long growing season of '99, there were a few stalls in the ripening process due to heat spikes, Mathis explained, and maturation of flavors was slow. Ultimately the '99s show more flavor development and sophistication than the '98s, which Mathis described as a bit rustic.