90 Points - Wine Enthusiast
DOUBLE GOLD - TheFiftyBest.com - Best California Merlot - 2020
EXCEPTIONAL - Restaurant Wine - Issues #187, #188, & #189
This harmonious wine displays a lasting and memorable finish. Pair it with grilled flank steak, lamb burgers or veal chops. Highly recommended!
Vintage: The string of near perfect vintages continued for the fifth year in 2016, with an early bud break and flowering followed by sunny days and relatively mild temperatures throughout the growing season. They were able to have almost all their grapes safely in the cellar before the valley's first significant fall rainstorm arrived on October fourteenth.
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.
Alcohol: 14.6% by volume
Varietal: 92% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc
Appellation: Napa Valley Estate
Harvest date: Sept. 22 - 27, 2016
Sugar: 24.7 Brix (average)
Fermentation: Indigenous yeast
Skin Contact: 2 weeks in stainless steel
Total acid: 6.2 g/L
pH: 3.55
Aging: 21 months
Type of oak: French oak barrels; 25% new, 75% neutral
Bottling date: August 2018
Release date: November 2019
97 Points
Rich dark fruit flavors of blackberry and cherry with notes of baking spices, licorice, coffee, and chocolate that interlace seamlessly with complexity, creating a wine that is both structured and delightfully supple, achieving an ideal balance of tension and grace. Artfully composed of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon with 17% Cabernet Franc, resulting in harmonious depth and freshness.
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