{"product_id":"leonetti-cellar-merlot-walla-walla-valley-1999","title":"Leonetti Cellar, Merlot Walla Walla Valley, 1999","description":"Leonetti calls 1999 its \"miracle vintage,\" and this Merlot shows why: a year that looked lost by midsummer turned into one of the stellar ones. The season started very cool and stayed that way through July, so the grapes were well behind going into August. The team responded by thinning clusters hard, by hand, so the fruit that remained could ripen fully. Then the weather turned sunny and hot from August well into October, which gave them the late finish they needed. Leonetti grows its Merlot in its cooler vineyards to keep natural acidity in the grapes as they ripen, and the cool start to 1999 left this wine with good acid balance to match its richness. The winery says its Merlot is built to age 15 to 25 years, so this bottle is now at the mature end of that range. It's a rare chance to taste how Walla Walla Merlot from one of the valley's benchmark houses holds up with real age.","brand":"Private","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50673993678905,"sku":"NYC-[PVT]-PCSOCTOB1026-100626-17-6","price":89.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0125\/1518\/0601\/files\/IMG-4949.jpg?v=1791579813","url":"https:\/\/nyc.flatiron-wines.com\/products\/leonetti-cellar-merlot-walla-walla-valley-1999","provider":"Flatiron Wines \u0026 Spirits NYC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}