{"id":2550,"date":"2025-07-09T14:45:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T14:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=2550"},"modified":"2025-07-09T14:45:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T14:45:49","slug":"winemaker-interview-series-peter-merriam-of-merriam-vineyards-may-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=2550","title":{"rendered":"Winemaker Interview Series &#8211; Peter Merriam of Merriam Vineyards &#8211; May 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Peter-Merriam-Blog-Home.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2552\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Peter-Merriam-Blog-Home-215x300.gif\" alt=\"Peter Merriam\" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>On Wednesday, May 7, 2025, we had the opportunity to interview <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriamvineyards.com\/about\/team\/#peter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Peter Merriam<\/a>.<\/strong> Peter and his wife <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriamvineyards.com\/about\/team\/#diana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Diana<\/strong><\/a> are the owners of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriamvineyards.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards<\/strong><\/a>. Their oldest son <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriamvineyards.com\/about\/team\/#evan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Evan<\/a> <\/strong>is the Estate Manager. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriamvineyards.com\/about\/team\/#will\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>William Weese<\/strong><\/a> is their winemaker. We <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=2084\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>interviewed William in April 2023<\/strong><\/a>. This time, we covered eight of Merriam&#8217;s new release wines with Peter, including six from the very-good 2021 vintage. Peter shared some updates since our chat with Will.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Before we get to the wines, I thought I would share some tidbits that Peter shared in the interview.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Peter still lives in Boxford, MA. While Evan is the Estate Manager in CA.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Peter skied Division 1 in college for New England College. He did cross country skiing and ski jumping. He was on 3 national teams.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Merriam is in the process of converting their vineyards to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ccof.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CCOF certified<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Evan is working closely with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/steve-domenichelli-88abb021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Steve Domenichelli<\/strong><\/a> of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/terraenterprisesllc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Terra Enterprises<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The &#8220;Merriam Estate&#8221; vineyard located on Los Amigos Road was certified in 2012.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;Windacre&#8221; should be certified in for the harvest of 2027.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Vintage Updates<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">2025 &#8211; They are 10 days to two weeks behind this year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">2024 \u2013 Normal, but they were done harvesting in 2 weeks.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Davio&#8217;s Wines<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The make all the private label wines for <a href=\"https:\/\/davios.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Davio&#8217;s<\/strong><\/a> restaurant.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They make Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a seasonal Rose for them. Total production for Davio&#8217;s is about 3,000 cases.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Vineyard updates.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They will no longer be using &#8220;Lower Pond&#8221; for Malbec. All Malbec moving forward will be &#8220;Estate&#8221; fruit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They have 45 acres under vine. They use 80% and sell off 20% of the juice or grapes.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Christian Tietje bought some Chardonnay for his Anton Stone project.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They have been getting fruit from the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/gtvineyards.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gloeckner-Turner Ranch<\/a><\/strong> in Rockpile since 2009. That site will be the only purchased fruit going forward. Peter splits a block with Clay Mauritson.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;Windacre&#8221; wines are all free run juice, while the &#8220;Russian River Valley&#8221; wines are from pressed fruit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The first &#8220;Right Bank&#8221; wine was in 1 barrel in 2018. It is now 5 barrels.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;Miktos&#8221; is Greek for mixed, blend, or come together. First year was 2005. 2024 will be 100% Estate fruit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They have always used 100% French oak barrels.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">50% new on &#8220;Rockpile&#8221; and 60% new on &#8220;Right Bank&#8221; and &#8220;Miktos&#8221;.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Other wines get 35% to 40% new.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you want to learn a little more about <a href=\"https:\/\/lifebetweenthevines.com\/podcast-682-william-weese-winemaker-merriam-vineyards-healdsburg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Will Weese<\/strong><\/a> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lifebetweenthevines.com\/podcast-692-evan-merriam-estate-manager-merriam-vineyards-healdsburg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Evan Merriam<\/a><\/strong>, they were both recently interviewed on Ray Fister&#8217;s &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/lifebetweenthevines.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Life Between the Vines<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; podcast. Click on the above links to listen to each.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriamvineyards.com\/collection\/current-release-wines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>Merriam website<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Merriam-Logo.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2085\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Merriam-Logo.gif\" alt=\"Merriam Logo\" width=\"300\" height=\"82\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-2023-Eastside-Estate-Fume-Blanc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2023 Pinot Noir &#8220;Eastside Estate&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (RRV) $56 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 92.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">2) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2021-Windacre-Vineyard-Merlot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2021 Merlot &#8220;Windacre Vineyard&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (RRV) $56 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 91.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">3) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2022-Windacre-Vineyard-Cabernet-Franc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2022 Cabernet Franc &#8220;Windacre Vineyard&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (RRV) $60 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 91.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">4) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2021-Russian-River-Valley-Cabernet-Sauvignon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon &#8220;Russian River Valley&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $38 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 92<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">5) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2021-Windacre-Vineyard-Cabernet-Sauvignon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon &#8220;Windacre Vineyard&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (RRV) $60 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">6) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2021-Rockpile-Cabernet-Sauvignon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon &#8220;Rockpile&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Gloeckner-Turner Ranch) $88 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 95<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">7) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2021-Right-Bank-Red-Wine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2021 &#8220;Right Bank Red Wine&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (RRV) $84 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 95<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">8) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2021-Miktos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2021 Red Blend &#8220;Miktos&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (RRV) $84 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><u>Other Merriam Wines That We Covered In Others Tastings<\/u><\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">8) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2023-Danielles-Vineyard-Fume-Blanc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2023 &#8220;Danielle&#8217;s Vineyard Fume Blanc&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (RRV) $42 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 92<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">9) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2023-Eastside-Estate-Pinot-Noir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2023 Pinot Noir &#8220;Eastside Estate&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (RRV) $56 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 91.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">10) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2022-Russian-River-Valley-Pinot-Noir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2022 Pinot Noir &#8220;Russian River Valley&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $38 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 91<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">11) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Merriam-Vineyards-2022-SNED-Red\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards 2022 Red Blend &#8220;SNED Red&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Sonoma County) $38 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 90.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You can find reviews of past and future Merriam wines that we cover on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine.php?winery=489\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Merriam Vineyards KWG winery page<\/strong><\/a> on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! \u2013 Ken<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&#8217;s new release wines with Peter, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2552,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2858,22,18,2957,13,1538,2958,2940,241,2959,88,11,95,10,465,2960,1930,1933,12,1201,1187,1760,155,24,102,9,2961,67,70,2962,2963,1256,90,1929,2964,126,8,6,1292,1288],"tags":[2847,501,625,2945,491,1520,2955,1951,2952,2951,2941,2950,1939,2942,1949,564,2953,2895,2949,495,519,2948,351,1944,2944,1935,492,2894,1165,1415,1945,2954,467,1469,518,1946,704,2946,2947,2956,2943,1942,1434],"class_list":["post-2550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anton-stone","category-cabernet-franc","category-cabernet-sauvignon","category-ccof-certified","category-chardonnay","category-christian-tietje","category-davios-restaurant","category-evan-merriam","category-fume-blanc","category-gloeckner-turner-ranch","category-high-end-wines","category-kens-wine-guide-tasting-panel","category-malbec","category-merlot","category-merriam","category-merriam-vineyards","category-miktos","category-peter-merriam","category-pinot-noir","category-red-blend","category-red-wine","category-right-bank","category-rockpile","category-rose","category-russian-river-valley","category-sauvignon-blanc","category-sned","category-sonoma-county","category-sonoma-wines","category-steve-dimenicelli","category-terra-enterprises","category-virtual-wine-tasting","category-white-wine","category-will-weese","category-windacre-vineyard","category-wine-ratings","category-wine-recommendations","category-wine-reviews","category-winemaker","category-zoom-wine-tasting","tag-anton-stone","tag-cabernet-franc","tag-cabernet-sauvignon","tag-ccof-certified","tag-chardonnay","tag-christian-tietje","tag-clay-mauritson","tag-danielles-vineyard","tag-davios-restaurant","tag-davios-wines","tag-diana-merriam","tag-eastside","tag-eastside-estate","tag-estate-manager","tag-evan-merriam","tag-fume-blanc","tag-gloeckner-turner-ranch","tag-life-between-the-vines","tag-los-amigos-road","tag-malbec","tag-merlot","tag-merriam-estate","tag-merriam-vineyards","tag-miktos","tag-new-england-college","tag-peter-merriam","tag-pinot-noir","tag-ray-fister","tag-red-blend","tag-right-bank","tag-right-bank-red-wine","tag-rockpile","tag-rose","tag-russian-river-valley","tag-sauvignon-blanc","tag-sned-red","tag-sonoma-county","tag-steve-dimenicelli","tag-terra-enterprises","tag-will-weese","tag-william-weese","tag-windacre-vineyard","tag-winemaker"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2550"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2556,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2550\/revisions\/2556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}