Florèz Wines ‘Picard’ Red 2021
Location: United States, California
Winemaker: James Jelks
Grapes: Merlot
Soil: weathered sandstone, shale
Winemaking: hand-picked mid-October and destemmed entirely. Fermented with native yeasts in a traditional upright French cuve, pressed at dryness. Let to age for 10 months on light lees in neutral French oak. Unfined, unfiltered, and no added SO2 at any point.
From the Importer Jenny and Francois: James says, “Well truth is I didn’t plan to make Merlot. I could spin you a story about Pomerol, but I’ll tell you why I made Merlot. Up to this point, I have mostly avoided the Bordeaux varieties. Not because I don’t like them, I’ve just focused more on Burgundy and the surrounding areas. Wine is also fashion, and Merlot has been out of the spotlight. However, when I agreed to have my friend German Soto farm an entire vineyard organically specifically for me, that meant taking the merlot. I even passed it up the first year when there was still flexibility. That being said we treated it as well as any of our wines and it turned out to be one of the best wines of the vintage! We put in a burgundy bottle out of defiance. ‘Picard’ is apparently an ‘old name’ for Merlot, but the TTB wouldn’t let me use it as a variety so it became the name of the wine. Aromas of black cherry, black plum and cacao powder complement a palate marked by lively acidity, medium firm tannins and a juicy dark fruit core. Not a California fruit bomb like many Merlots nowadays, this wine shows good restraint and is a proper red wine. Enjoy with food or on a chill day after work.”
Florèz Wines was started by James Jelks in 2017. James grew up in the Santa Cruz area and was schooled in winemaking at nearby UC Davis. He worked in wineries all over the world for 10 years before returning home to make wine in the Santa Cruz area. He is farming some vineyards himself, always dry-farmed, and is also sourcing some fruit from organic and sustainable vineyards. He always works with native yeasts, does not use additives except for a minimal amount of sulfur at bottling, and does not filter the wines.