Hagafen Cellars
2006 Prix Merlot, Reserve
Vichy Vineyard: Block 4

Gold Medal - Tasters Guild, 2011

We have featured the excellent wines from Hagafen Cellars in Napa Valley at WineHeist before, but this is the first time that we had the chance to try their exclusive line of “Prix” reserve wines.  These wines are typically available only to their wine club, and once we tried them, we could see why: the quality is another step above even Hagafen’s usual standard of excellence.  We jumped at the chance to offer their 2006 Merlot, and even better, we are able to offer it at an incredible 25% off.

The 2006 Prix Vichy Vineyard Reserve Merlot is deep ruby in color, with the nose showing classic Merlot aromas of plum and black cherries, along with a hint of candied berries and spearmint.  The palate shows blackberry and cherry flavors intermingled with tobacco and damp earth, with good acidity carrying through on the finish.  Like all of Hagafen’s wines, this one is built to age (but luckily they have already aged this one in the cellar for you!), and also to go with food.  This would be perfect with lamb shank or beef Bourgogne.  For Napa Merlot, $55 is a great price, but at $42, this is one that should not be missed.

Varietal: 100% Merlot
Appellation: Napa Valley
Harvest: September 30th, 2006
pH: 3.77
Alcohol: 13.5%
Brix at harvest: 24.6
Acidity: 6.8 g/L
Cases Produced: 200

Tasting Notes  PDF

About The Winery...

Hagafen Cellars is located in the Napa Valley, in the heart of California's premier wine grape region. Less than a mile south of the famed Stags leap District and twenty yards from the Oak Knoll District--Napa's newest and most exciting of American Viticultural Areas--our well-drained soil is ideal for the growth and production of ripe and rich, intensely fruity small lot estate bottled wines. Owned and operated by Irit and Ernie Weir, the winery was founded in 1979, and the first commercially released vintage was harvested in 1980. In the ensuing years, we have grown from a small partnership producing wine with grapes from Winery Lake Vineyard, then owned by Rene DiRosa, to a well-established wine company whose wines are distributed throughout North America and overseas. Since 1980 our wines have been served on numerous occasions at the White House to visiting foreign dignitaries. The cornerstone of our lives are the Silverado Trail winery and tasting room and our two estate vineyards in the eastern benchland of the Napa Valley.

Learn more at www.hagafen.com.

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