2013 Hartwell Vineyards Merlot

Community Tasting Notes (31) Avg Score: 92.4 points

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  5/27/2023 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Alas, my final bottle of this beauty in the cellar. Slow ox'd for 2-3 hours before our event tonight and Carol couldn't keep her hands off it, going back into the kitchen 3-4x for small samples. She again remarks it's a merlot that drinks like a cab, and she's right. Plenty of dark red fruit, gentle spice and good weight in the mouth. Notes pretty much as with prior bottles with the notation that some of the last of the baby fat from the sweet fruit has dropped away, but the fruit is still very strong. This can go longer for sure. Wish I had more...

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  5/26/2023 - gteran76 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  This is a Merlot that drinks like a cab. Close to full body, good balance, nice finish and smells great. If I can put my hands on this I’ll buy a case!

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  3/11/2023 - Mark1npt wrote: 94 Points

  Been a while for one of these.....pnp into a decanter at Andrew's before dinner. Enjoyed over 2-4 hours post dinner, and reporting because this bottle has demonstrated further resolution. More aged, stewed plum on the nose and palate to start. This bottle behaving 10 years older than the last. The cork was in great shape, came out normally and in good shape, no saturation to speak of. Moderate sediment in the bottle. Maybe a 92-93 at that point? At 3+ hours of air the bottle comes around, a 94-95 then. The fruit darkens, turns smoother and feels/tastes not as old now. Weird! But really good!

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  5/10/2022 - Mark1npt Likes this wine:

  Wonderful as always with a little decant. Enjoyed during sunset on our first night in Mykonos. Gave the last half of the bottle to our server and the chef who made tonight's meal extra special for us!

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  4/3/2022 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 92 Points

  This has been a very reliable 93-95 pt wine for me the last few years. I'm reporting on this bottle only because it was handled differently in drinking and there's more to report on as a result.......
  
  Pnp'd at the last minute due to my disgust with the other 2 wines I was serving last evening. This usually needs about 2-3 hours to come together but it was good enough right after the pnp to enjoy during and after dinner with the HMCs. Probably a 93 then due to lack of airing out.
  
  Cork back in bottle on the counter at room temp for 20 hours until late this afternoon when a nice 12 oz pour went into my glass. A beautiful dark red fruited juicy nose with a hint of confectioner's sugar, excellent weight in the mouth, medium plus at the least. The darkest purple in the glass with a hint of dark garnet/ruby edge. I've never consumed a Hartwell with this much airtime.
  
  Very well balanced at this point with graphite and just the slightest hint of oak on the nose. The fruit is quite good but has developed just the slightest bit of a tart cherry ending to it, yet I still find this is quite good. Amazing how quality fruit and quality winemaking allows for more time to enjoy the wine without it breaking down very much. A 92 bordering on a 93 with all this airtime tonight.

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