90 Points - Wine Enthusiast
This is a Cabernet lover’s Merlot! Rich concentrated with black fruit, cherries, licorice, baked plum, graham cracker and coffee are wrapped in a velvety texture that make your taste buds ask for more! Full bodied and ripe, it offers a balanced oak nuance and a soft texture that speaks to its varietal character. The perfect partner with beef tenderloin, rack of lamb, duck and barbecued pork. Highly recommended!
Vintage: The growing season started out with warm temperatures in the late winter and early spring, triggering an early bud break. Colder temperatures in May slowed grape development resulting in a smaller crop in 2015. The harvest was one of their earliest in memory with the berries smaller than usual but packed with flavor and color.
Vineyard: Their Merlot is grown both in cooler American Canyon and Carneros vineyards and in their warmer Yountville vineyard. They blended Merlot from all three vineyards to create a balanced, robust wine that combines the richness and depth from the warmer climates and perfume and bright fruitiness from the cooler climates. Committed to natural winegrowing and sustainability, farmed from five estate vineyards without artificial fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides and certified organic.
Varietal: 100% Merlot
Appellation: Napa Valley Estate
Harvest date: Sept. 10 - Oct. 16, 2015
Sugar: 24.7 Brix (average)
Fermentation: Indigenous yeast
Skin Contact: 2 weeks in stainless steel
Total acid: 6.0 g/L
pH: 3.57
Aging: 18 months
Type of oak: French oak barrels; 20% new, 80% neutral
Bottling date: March 28, 2017
Release date: Spring 2019
95 Points
Aromas of wild berries, black fig and ripe dark fruits are intertwined with hints of fresh mountain herbs, mineral, leather, savory spices, and cigar box. On the palate, the rich fruit flavors of dark cherry, ripe plum, blackberry, red currants and cassis are layered with notes of wild sage, dark chocolate truffle, cinnamon, clove, and a kiss of fine French oak.
94 Points
Juice explodes right out of the glass with its dark purple in color and bursting aromas of black cherry jam, boysenberry, raspberry and wild cherry interlaced with hints of baking spice, espresso bean, and toasted nut. The palate is ripe and juicy with flavors of dark cherry, huckleberry and raspberry perfectly integrated with notes of spice, dark chocolate, and a kiss of toasty oak.
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