The crop level for the Petaluma Merlot is always low, due to pruning and a very selective harvest, usually kept at around 4 tonnes per hectare. Due to heat summation, Coonawarra is ideally suited to the Bordeaux varietals. The grapes for this vintage were perfectly ripe offering spicy ripe flavours, further selectivity in the winery has ensured only fully ripe grapes were incorporated into the final wine. The early ripening Merlot required less heat to ripen than other Coonawarra varietals. The small crop and optimal microclimate has made Petaluma Coonawarra Merlot an especially dense wine, the most intense since and including the very first release.