Little Frances Merlot Mendocino County 2019

Erin Pooley is the proprietress and uber-talented winemaker behind Little Frances wines- a portfolio that includes both California offerings and wines from her native Australia. Frances is Erin’s middle name, and after a recent spirited phone conversation from her home in Sydney where she’s gearing up for harvest Down Under, she may be little in stature but is clearly big in personality. Erin earned her degree in Wine Science from Charles Sturt University and first came to California in 2007 with a dream and a J-1 visa. She spent several vintages working early mornings on the cellar floor at Napa’s iconic Larkmead Cellars, supplementing her income as a captain on the dining room floor of the Michelin-starred Meadowood Restaurant at night. That’s a lot of time on your feet! So, later on, when a different upscale restaurant employer closed its doors in 2012, Erin parlayed her severance check into her first ton of fruit to start her own wine label; and Little Frances wines was born.

Erin loves fresh and vibrant wines, which naturally inclined her to make white wines like Sémillon and Chenin Blanc. Her wines have garnered a constant drumbeat of praise- Esther Mobley from the San Francisco Chronicle named her a Winemaker to Watch in 2018. And influential critic and celebrated wine writer Jon Bonné mentioned Erin in an article on the future direction of Californian wine. He later listed her as part of “California’s New New Guard” of winemakers. With the accolades pouring in for her white wine projects, Erin decided to try her hand with red. The result is this delicious Merlot refracted through the lens of a white winemaker: in other words, bright, food-friendly, and made with a light touch.

In 2019, just before harvest, Erin met Rick Dutra, who farms his multi-generational family-owned Mohawk Trail vineyard in Redwood Valley, just north of us in Mendocino County. Rick proudly showed her a small plot of Merlot on an iron-rich, sun-dappled, hillside bench sloping down to the east toward the Russian River. Erin tasted some of the fresh fruit off the vine and was smitten by its exuberance and vibrancy. While Erin was enamored with the flavor quality, she was also eager to support like-minded Rick, who is in the process of converting his entire ranch to organic farming. And so, with a handshake, Erin found herself with a couple of T-bins of enchanting red fruit. Applying a lighter winemaking sensibility to a red wine grape, Little Frances is determined to make Merlot hip again.

This Mohawk Trail vineyard ripened effortlessly during the 2019 season, and the fruit for this wine was hand-picked before a whole berry fermentation with native yeast. By using whole berries, rather than opting to crush or macerate the skins, the Merlot doesn’t become too tannic or Cabernet-like and retains its fresh fruitiness. This Merlot spent 11 months of élevage in used French oak, and the resulting wine is richly perfumed with a deep red rose and clove. The gentle tannin structure effortlessly carries generous mulberry and plum fruits. Simultaneously offering friendly approachability and reserved power, this Merlot pairs perfectly with staying cozy at home during the cooler months. For Erin, Red is the New White. 248 cases produced.