I've had a couple of bottles of each of this and the 1998 in the last year or two, and for off-vintages of a wine whose style isn't supposed to age well, all have held up nicely and still have considerable fruit left. They don't age into a highly complex style, but they stay quite enjoyable and have a lot of crowd-pleasing appeal. Having said that, while there is no huge hurry, I think the smart thing would be to drink up your remaining bottles in the coming year or so.
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This appears to have peaked, but doesn't look to be going downhill. Lewis makes some of the most approachable, food friendly wines coming out of Calif. This is Merlot that nearly everyone will love. It certainly is not exotic or adventurous, just real solid, cohesive juice.
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8/18/2011 - no leashes wrote: 90 Points
Nice sweet red cherry, pencil lead and mineral flavors, medium bodied, drinking nicely. Needed about half hour to open up, then it sang.
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12/1/2010 - no leashes wrote: 89 Points
Still drinking nicely, but past its peak.
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7/7/2008 - Counselor Chris wrote: 90 Points
I've had a couple of bottles of each of this and the 1998 in the last year or two, and for off-vintages of a wine whose style isn't supposed to age well, all have held up nicely and still have considerable fruit left. They don't age into a highly complex style, but they stay quite enjoyable and have a lot of crowd-pleasing appeal. Having said that, while there is no huge hurry, I think the smart thing would be to drink up your remaining bottles in the coming year or so.
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7/8/2005 - ragtop1967 wrote: 91 Points
This appears to have peaked, but doesn't look to be going downhill. Lewis makes some of the most approachable, food friendly wines coming out of Calif. This is Merlot that nearly everyone will love. It certainly is not exotic or adventurous, just real solid, cohesive juice.
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2/23/2005 - ragtop1967 wrote: 91 Points
Merlot as intended - still drinking well - the velvet hammer
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