THE MERLO FAMILY
Ray and Robin Merlo first started their professional lives in a field very different from winemaking. Ray as a medical doctor and Robin as a physician assistant, they started a family practice in Redding, California. Their first entry to winemaking was from visiting family in Northern Italy in the mid ‘80’s. “It was a revealing trip for us. All my relatives had small plots of land where they grew grapes for their own use,” says Ray. “We visited the old family vineyard, which was planted by my great-grandfather and is still to this day maintained by my cousin. It was then that we thought we might like to continue this family tradition back home.”

After returning home to California, the Merlos recounted their experience with an old school friend, Randall Meredith, who had made a similar trip and had similar interests and aspirations in wine.

He planted the first vineyard in Hyampom in the mid ‘80s; at that time the Merlos were not directly involved in the ownership. “We traveled to Hyampom on weekends, helping with planting, and the harvest,” says Robin. It wasn’t until the late 90’s that the Merlos entered into a formal partnership with Meredith Vineyards, an established, bonded winery.

“We fell in love with the valley over time,” says Robin, “but it wasn’t until later that we realized the real potential this land had for growing grapes. The fruit coming off Randall’s vineyard was just incredible.” It was at that time that they purchased Hyampom Valley Ranch and set in motion a plan to develop a second vineyard. The ranch was prepped in 1999 and planted in 2000. The first bottling was in 2001 under the Meredith/Merlo label, but the Merlo’s vineyard didn’t come into production until 2002. Based on a desire to expand the winemaking facilities, they decided to construct a larger facility and in 2002 the first winery was built. In 2004 a second winery was built along with a new crush pad and state-of-the-art wine making equipment. The first bottling under the Merlo label was in 2004. Using the family name, Merlo - Italian for blackbird - Ray and Robin are now creating estate-grown wines that represent their winemaking heritage in a land they cherish – Hyampom Valley.

Today Ray and Robin produce several varietals all from the Southern Trinity County. “Our winemaking philosophy is that we believe that great fruit produces great wine,” says Ray. It appears the Hyampom area may produce some of the best wine grapes around.