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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.7 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 215 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Bowmanifesto on 7/5/2023 & rated 93 points: My last bottle of this beauty. Still needs an hour of air before opening up like a magnificent bouquet of autumn flowers. (443 views) | | | Tasted by acyso on 11/6/2022 & rated 85 points: Vinetasters: Howell Mountain (Park Ridge, IL): Served double blind. High-toned alcohol and aldehydes on the nose here. Darker fruit, clearly modern in style, with much more oak than necessary. Sticks out in this lineup, especially for its prickly and bitter tannins. My 10th, group's 4th. (1432 views) | | | Tasted by Bowmanifesto on 10/23/2020 & rated 92 points: Though no longer quite at the heights of 2016 tasting, this 2020 opening is mature and magnificent. (1999 views) | | | Tasted by rossi.wine on 3/18/2019 & rated 91 points: Dark fruit on the nose, plums, dark flowers, tobacco, spice box. Open and expressive, good fruit but rather linear, soft tannins, well integrated acidity. The alcohol sticking out a little towards the finish. 90-92 (3187 views) | | | Tasted by Dionysusx on 12/31/2018 & rated 92 points: Raisin, licorice, dark cherry and still plenty of tannins taking hold on the finish. A subtle nuttiness is present throughout. May be a bit past peak but still extremely flavorful. This bottle has traveled and stood the test of time. Worth the wait to open. (2993 views) | | | Tasted by 1markymark on 3/25/2018 & rated 91 points: Surprisingly tasty. Not generally a Merlot fan, but this was good enough to make me question that stance (3339 views) | | | Tasted by COWineLover on 12/30/2017 & rated 92 points: Final bottle of 10. No decant. This may be the most enjoyable bottle yet. Immediately very aromatic with red currant, vanilla, sweet cassis, bramble, and black cherry. Very energetic acidity to start with coffee and white pepper. In the mid palate this picks up black cherry, sweet cassis, and the pepperiness hangs in the background. The finish really coasts along remaining vibrant and the coffee notes returning.
Much more vibrant than a previous bottle which led me to conclude this was fading. The vibrancy after opening does wane so drink the day it is opened.
Drink or hold. (3484 views) | | | Tasted by Bam_Man on 11/7/2017 & rated 91 points: First one of these beauties in 18 months and my last bottle of a half-case purchased back in 2010. Fully mature, but definitely not over-the-hill yet. This always had the structure to age, and it has done so very gracefully. Still showing that pretty nose of cherries and vanilla. So soft and supple, offering plenty of ripe, delicious plum, black cherry and dark currant fruit - though of course, it's not as prominent as before. There's still wonderful depth on the mid-palate and a long, satisfying finish that features notes of baking spice, just a touch of oak and a hint of bramble. This is so harmonious, elegant and refined now. A wonderful Napa Merlot that's drinking beautifully near the end of its prime.
50+5+12+16+8=91 (2638 views) | | | Tasted by rossi.wine on 3/28/2017 flawed bottle: Corked (2768 views) | | | Tasted by COWineLover on 3/26/2017 & rated 89 points: PnP. First bottle in about 14 months. From the first whiff, this offers generous sweet cassis, coffee, herbs, and tobacco in the background. On the palate entry this has good initial lift with acidity that drops quickly. No tannic grip.
On the palate this offers black currant, coffee, mocha, and some roasted nuts. The length has faded from prior bottles. This is a mature wine that is enjoyable, though falling from prior bottles. One bottle remaining in our cellar that will be targeted for consumption at Christmas when we normally consume.
Day 2 - This is losing its vibrancy compared to prior bottles. (2316 views) | | | Tasted by SCosgrove on 3/21/2017 & rated 91 points: How odd to read the below write up as I also lost this in the cellar and thought it was gone only to find it for my wife's birthday. Nice little powerful wine. (1810 views) | | | Tasted by BrunelloBob on 2/10/2017 & rated 90 points: Lost this bottle in the cellar and re-discovered it the other day. This has held up much better than I expected when I had a bottle 4+ years ago. Really impressed by Beringers' ability to age (1958 views) | | | Tasted by travelme on 1/16/2017 & rated 91 points: A step slower than my previous bottle. It opened with a fractured cork but tasted really good with a smooth palate, nice nose, and great finish. I would drink them if you have them. One more from a case for me. (1775 views) | | | Tasted by gmbdds on 9/28/2016 & rated 91 points: Plenty youthful. Vibrant dark fruits. Secondary character showing up but not some of the autumnal notes I have had with other older vintages. Resolving tannins but enough grip to go five more years. (1547 views) | | | Tasted by Bowmanifesto on 9/28/2016 & rated 94 points: You keep on rockin' me, baby! Though this wine is no baby anymore, now in the full flower of its maturity. Magnificent Merlot. (1431 views) | | | Tasted by fluxcap on 9/9/2016 & rated 90 points: Decanted for 90 minutes. Well aged in our cellar for 5 years. Raspberry jam on the nose with hints of milk and dark chocolate. Strong red fruit on the tongue with cinnamon and orange on the finish with hints of stoney earth. Excellent Merlot. (1503 views) | | | Tasted by travelme on 4/2/2016 & rated 92 points: Not as great as the past two bottles but pretty similar. Just did not have the same pop upon opening as the others did. Still a great drinking high quality Merlot. Just three more which I hope to polish off by years end. (2402 views) | | | Tasted by vinodolphin on 3/18/2016 & rated 90 points: I have taken a couple of these to my Mom and Dad. They as have I enjoyed them. (2046 views) | | | Tasted by travelme on 3/15/2016 & rated 93 points: See previous notes. Just a touch off the high mark the previous bottle was like. Exceptional and it went quickly. Glad I still have a few lingering bottles left. Hope to polish them off by years end. (1963 views) | | | Tasted by GalvezGuy on 1/31/2016 & rated 91 points: Classic nose of plum, black cherry, mocha, and spicy oak. On the palate rich with plum, currant, black cherry, mocha, and vanilla. Long finish with plenty of grip and a little heat. Last of a case of great bottles. (2210 views) | | | Tasted by GaryHOhio on 1/15/2016 & rated 93 points: Very nice Merlot, Decanted for three hours, lovely nose of cherries and vanilla, very smooth wine with lots of fruit and soft tannins.
About as good as it gets for Merlot I think. (2239 views) | | | Tasted by mouton45 on 12/25/2015 & rated 91 points: Christmas Day dinner at the Palace with Mariruth, Cathy, Vanessa, James and me. My last bottle of the 2005. A nose of dark cherries and chocolate. Well structured. Probably won't improve much, but riding the high plain of deliciously mature wines (1653 views) | | | Tasted by COWineLover on 12/21/2015 & rated 92 points: Opened my annual bottle to track development. This wine remains very good and I have been impressed with the remarkable consistency. On opening this pops with a sweet cassis aroma and also possesses light roasted coffee. On the palate the tannins are dusty giving way to currant on the entry with a zippy acidity in the mid palate. The finish offers an espresso, smoke, and chocolate with fine overall length. The longer this was exposed to air the wine became silkier and richer with the currant really persistent.
This has not lost any substance from the prior tasting 12 months ago and this remains quite fresh and enjoyable.
Day 2 - Remained very solid stored overnight in the fridge. 91 (1652 views) | | | Tasted by travelme on 11/27/2015 & rated 94 points: See previous notes. My best bottle yet. This was popped and poured through Vinturi at a local PF Changs for a big celebratory dinner and it was a nice deep purple/red in color. Bottle aged absolutely perfectly and tasted amazing from the fist sip to the last. An amazing bottle with tones of black cherry, blue/black berry, oak, spice, and just a hint of vanilla and cola. The usual exquisite complex Howell Mountain fruit. Highly recommended since this is in a great place in the drinking window. I still have five more in my cellar. Looking forward to my next one. (1709 views) | | | Tasted by SCosgrove on 11/21/2015 & rated 90 points: Last of the batch, mellow, full of flavor, nice merlot. (1409 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By David Lawrason
WineAlign (3/16/2011)
(Beringer Bancroft Ranch Single Vineyard Merlot, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley red) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Szabo, MS
WineAlign (3/9/2011)
(Beringer Bancroft Ranch Single Vineyard Merlot, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2009, IWC Issue #144
(Beringer Vineyards Merlot Bancroft Ranch Howell Mountain) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of WineAlign and Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Beringer Vineyards Producer websiteMerlotMerlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Howell Mountain Howell Mountain |
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