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
Gold Medal
Light pink in color with aromas of watermelon, cranberry, orange rind, and fresh spring flowers that leap from the glass. The palate offers more peach, strawberry, and melon, with an intriguing note of rose and hibiscus. It's crisp with just the perfect hint of red fruit, and delicate whisper of strawberry that gives goosebumps.
91 Points
Shimmering ruby-purple hue. The nose is a walk through a damp Sonoma forest—mossy bark and wild earth—brightened by high-toned notes of cranberry sauce and blood orange. On the palate, it's generously long in the mouth, with good concentration. It's a masterclass in tension: intense, cherry and red current fruit meets dark spice and fine, sandy tannins.
96 Point Vintage
Entices with aromas of Bing cherry, raspberry, and cedar spice. Indicative of the cool vintage, the wine carries a freshness throughout. The palate offers a harmonious balance between bright red fruit, spice, and nicely woven tannins.
Gold Medal
Generously packed with black cherry, cola, cassis, and plum that all intermingle together in a creamy, velvety texture with great layering, finishing with delightful notes of oak and spice. Persistent, well-defined structure, wonderfully balanced.
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