On Wednesday, May 7, 2025, we had the opportunity to interview Peter Merriam. Peter and his wife Diana are the owners of Merriam Vineyards. Their oldest son Evan is the Estate Manager. William Weese is their winemaker. We interviewed William in April 2023. This time, we covered eight of Merriam’s new release wines with Peter, including six from the very-good 2021 vintage. Peter shared some updates since our chat with Will.
Before we get to the wines, I thought I would share some tidbits that Peter shared in the interview.
- Peter still lives in Boxford, MA. While Evan is the Estate Manager in CA.
- Peter skied Division 1 in college for New England College. He did cross country skiing and ski jumping. He was on 3 national teams.
- Merriam is in the process of converting their vineyards to CCOF certified.
- Evan is working closely with Steve Domenichelli of Terra Enterprises.
- The “Merriam Estate” vineyard located on Los Amigos Road was certified in 2012.
- “Windacre” should be certified in for the harvest of 2027.
- Vintage Updates
- 2025 – They are 10 days to two weeks behind this year.
- 2024 – Normal, but they were done harvesting in 2 weeks.
- The winery is no longer a custom crush facility for others. With the addition of Eastside, they are using the whole facility for their own use.
- Davio’s Wines
- The make all the private label wines for Davio’s restaurant.
- They make Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a seasonal Rose for them. Total production for Davio’s is about 3,000 cases.
- Vineyard updates.
- They will no longer be using “Lower Pond” for Malbec. All Malbec moving forward will be “Estate” fruit.
- They have 45 acres under vine. They use 80% and sell off 20% of the juice or grapes.
- Christian Tietje bought some Chardonnay for his Anton Stone project.
- They have been getting fruit from the Gloeckner-Turner Ranch in Rockpile since 2009. That site will be the only purchased fruit going forward. Peter splits a block with Clay Mauritson.
- With the current glut of grapes, it is a good time to pull out dated vineyards and replant. So that is what they are planning for.
- “Windacre” wines are all free run juice, while the “Russian River Valley” wines are from pressed fruit.
- The first “Right Bank” wine was in 1 barrel in 2018. It is now 5 barrels.
- “Miktos” is Greek for mixed, blend, or come together. First year was 2005. 2024 will be 100% Estate fruit.
- They have always used 100% French oak barrels.
- 50% new on “Rockpile” and 60% new on “Right Bank” and “Miktos”.
- Other wines get 35% to 40% new.
- If you want to learn a little more about Will Weese and Evan Merriam, they were both recently interviewed on Ray Fister’s “Life Between the Vines” podcast. Click on the above links to listen to each.
Below is a summary of the wine offerings from Merriam that we covered with Peter. The links below are to our full reviews. If you are interested in ordering and trying these wines, you will find some of these wines via your favorite fine wine shop or on top quality wines lists. You can also purchase these wines on the Merriam website.
1) Merriam Vineyards 2023 Pinot Noir “Eastside Estate” (RRV) $56 (KWGTP 92.5)
2) Merriam Vineyards 2021 Merlot “Windacre Vineyard” (RRV) $56 (KWGTP 91.5)
3) Merriam Vineyards 2022 Cabernet Franc “Windacre Vineyard” (RRV) $60 (KWGTP 91.5)
4) Merriam Vineyards 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Russian River Valley” $38 (KWGTP 92)
5) Merriam Vineyards 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Windacre Vineyard” (RRV) $60 (KWGTP 93)
6) Merriam Vineyards 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Rockpile” (Gloeckner-Turner Ranch) $88 (KWGTP 95)
7) Merriam Vineyards 2021 “Right Bank Red Wine” (RRV) $84 (KWGTP 95)
8) Merriam Vineyards 2021 Red Blend “Miktos” (RRV) $84 (KWGTP 93.5)
Other Merriam Wines That We Covered In Others Tastings
8) Merriam Vineyards 2023 “Danielle’s Vineyard Fume Blanc” (RRV) $42 (KWGTP 92)
9) Merriam Vineyards 2023 Pinot Noir “Eastside Estate” (RRV) $56 (KWGTP 91.5)
10) Merriam Vineyards 2022 Pinot Noir “Russian River Valley” $38 (KWGTP 91)
11) Merriam Vineyards 2022 Red Blend “SNED Red” (Sonoma County) $38 (KWGTP 90.5)
You can find reviews of past and future Merriam wines that we cover on the Merriam Vineyards KWG winery page on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! – Ken