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2018
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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2023 and 2029 (based on 8 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.8 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 18 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Joshbturner on 4/20/2024: Outstanding! (556 views) | | | Tasted by rama on 12/22/2023: Enjoyable now, though really shines after 3 hours of air. Juicy acidity and fruit forward, gentle tannin. Not a cocktail high octane wine yet with plenty of fruit. For my tastes, I'd say enjoy over the next 5 years though decant for now. (1492 views) | | | Tasted by wmccone54 on 7/21/2023 & rated 89 points: Decanted. A very good Merlot; a “Cab drinker’s” Merlot: structured; a wide array of red and blue fruits; not much complexity, but early in development; needs food to enhance its potential. Solid finish. Probable upside potential. Decant, or hold; enjoy with serious food short term. (2522 views) | | | Tasted by Mdmiller on 5/13/2023 & rated 93 points: Decanted, then back in the bottle until the next night. This is one of the best merlots I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. Cherry flavors stand out, lifted by some menthol. Medium-dark flavors & lengthy finish. I will be holding on to my remaining bottles of this beauty to let them reach full potential. (2926 views) | | | Tasted by JJYoyo on 1/23/2023 & rated 90 points: Similar to last time. Yeah, this is not going to revolutionize your thoughts on wine but it was damn tasty with home made tacos. Fun, easy, what’s not to like ? At the price, a pleasure. Shut up and drink.
Score: 89. Relative to expectations: +
Next day, simple stopper put in. This has mellowed a bit but was by no means dead. Mrs Yoyo preferred it today, I think because the sweet edge was more under control. So let’s show this merlot some love and add a point.
Score: 90. Relative to expectations: ++. At the price, a lot of fun. Don’t overthink it. (3673 views) | | | Tasted by Shamroc41 on 1/14/2023: Okay needs more time (3124 views) | | | Tasted by joesi16 on 11/19/2022: Right now its an OK Merlot, but i do believe it will get better so i purchased a case. (3196 views) | | | Tasted by brianschool on 9/30/2022 & rated 91 points: Wonderful nose of plum, cherry cough syrup, and herbal tones. On the palate more plum, dark cherry, some coffee bean, and medicinal herb.
I really loved the cherry cough drop tones of this wine, some people may not. All in all, this wine has started to come around after a year, where back then there was almost nothing there. It's really started to develop in the bottle. However, this is still not ready. The wine presents all that I said above with a long (medium +) finish, and some mountain wine attributes.
Over two days the wine went through some changes, on day two it seemed to lose some fruit and gain more herbal characteristics, which was odd, but not negative.
This is high quality juice that will need more time to coalesce. It's excellent with an hour decant, but I'll be holding on to the rest of these for another year. (3279 views) | | | Tasted by dera on 8/30/2022 & rated 89 points: Light purple-mertot-ey color. Little short on the fruit department, earthy, almost muddy flavors, likely over oaked, but enjoyable. Much better on second day. Good QPR. (3174 views) | | | Tasted by JJYoyo on 6/24/2022 & rated 89 points: Not bad at all for the price. Pretty obvious Merlot characteristics - plum and cherries, a fair amount of new oak but not enough to spoil it for me. I was surprised at the level of smoothness to this. I think this is overall an early drinker - say in the next 3-4 years. Excellent QPR as a very good every day wine.
Score: 89. Relative to expectations: +
Day 2: after evacuation but no argon. Well, I tasted this after some tandoori to really give it the acid test - and it came through surprisingly well. After a day the same scents as before along with a sort of spearmint edge. On the palate there seems to be a little more alcoholic burn but that was probably mostly the residual spice interfering: it went away once the glycerin coated my tongue. It married beautifully with a little cheese.
Overall I would place this as a very good everyday wine: it is not going to be a revelation - however it is quite tasty, and a step up from “undemanding”. As such, excellent QPR.
Same score. (2997 views) | | | Tasted by ChateauShiny on 5/25/2022: This is the second big red DN wine that has gone though a dumb phase at around 9 months after bottling. Consumed over the evening. Lean, lacking depth, and totally unlike the prior TNs. Would never think this was the same bottle as the first two I cracked open.
Let it rest for a while. (2866 views) | | | Tasted by ChateauShiny on 2/6/2022: Decided to pop open another bottle of 124 and follow it over a few days.
Day 1: The PnP is more approachable now than it was when I first tried it. Nose of toasted walnuts, coffee, cocoa, dark cherries, and violets as the wine gets more air over 30 minutes. However the palate is still tightly closed up. Not much other than dark cherries, leather, bitter herbs, and a bit of orange zest.
Day 1.75: Stole a small tasting of this during lunch. The nose is less intense, but a similar profile. A noticeable alcohol aroma developed overnight. The palate became extremely floral backed by red cherries and dark chocolate. A bit of a green tannin note pops right before the finish. Medium-long mineral, herbal, nutty, and bitter cherry finish.
Day 2: The nose lost the alcohol aroma, but otherwise stayed the same. Palate seems more evolved than it was at lunch time - floral, nutty, ripe red cherries, leather, herbs, and spices. Smooth tannins that bring in tea and cocoa flavors. Long mineral, tart cherry, juniper, cocoa, spicy finish. Maybe a bit of espresso is lurking in the background.
Day 3: Poured a small tasting to go along with lunch - and it fell apart. Rest of the bottle followed down the drain.
This might be at the point where a 4-6 hour decant might be drinking how I like it. Will try that out next time I want to open a Merlot (which could be months). (3536 views) | | | Tasted by cyc on 2/5/2022 & rated 89 points: First of all, of the dN Merlots that I have tried, I much preferred N.53 and N.69 to this one. That being said, it’s not bad or anything. There’s a good whack of oak on the initial taste, but in terms of overall structure it is not out of balance or anything. I would rate it a bit higher but it fell apart on day 2, so I don’t know how well this will fare over time. (2951 views) | | | Tasted by jleg on 11/24/2021: This one seemed to be a little more open than the last bottle. Still very tightly wound up. (3297 views) | | | Tasted by swillpower on 10/26/2021: I am sure that this one is not really “ready.” However, it doesn’t have a lot going for it either.
First day, sour, lean, almost unapproachable. Second day, some of that has smoothed out, but there is very little fruit, nothing much to enjoy here.
Likely my last De Negoce purchase. There are tons of reasonably priced wines out there which are drinkable and enjoyable now. (3317 views) | | | Tasted by jleg on 10/23/2021: Opened on day of delivery. I cannot really add anything more about this wine than the review provided by CHATEAUSHINY whose impression of this wine is almost identical to mine.
Semi-translucent core. Alternating earthy, herbal and cherry notes with the medicinal, cough syrup notes coming out shortly after opening. Medium body. Cherry notes fairly well balanced with fine tannins. Almost like a heavier Pinot Noir.
I saved half the bottle for day 2 after dinner and it has really come together and coalesced nicely, without the previously mentioned medicinal notes. Nice combo of cherry and herbs in the finish. For now, a year or two of bottle age should be interesting and should be opened up and decanted 24 hours prior to drinking. (3182 views) | | | Tasted by ChateauShiny on 8/23/2021: Returned from vacation and the case of the N.124 Merlot was waiting. PnP and even 3 hours in the glass – this wine presented simple, and the only note worth mentioning was medicinal cherry cough syrup. I could tell there was something there that wanted to develop, but it never showed up before we had to go to sleep. Recorked the bottle and the tasting notes are from day 2.
And what a difference 24 hours made!
Nose is dark cherries, plum, violets, dark chocolate, honeysuckle, and a hint of tobacco. Medium heavy bodied, fruity, perfumy, and that spot on medium high acidity I love. Palate matches the nose with dark cherries, plums, violets, and dark chocolate. Other floral notes ebb and flow with each sip. After the wave of fruit, the acidity kicks in and my mouth waters. The medium light tannins hit and bring forward espresso, baking spices, and just a bit of herbs. Long mouthwatering finish that fades to minerals, wildflowers, raspberry syrup, and dark chocolate.
This wine is nowhere close to being open. Time to lose the rest of the case in the closet for a while. (3238 views) |
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de Negoce has now also opened a bottle shop where you can purchase individual bottles. You must buy in tranches of 6 or 12 and the price per bottle is higher than if you bought the "futures" case. 2018 de Négoce Merlot OG N.124from de Negoce
92-POINTS, GOLD MEDAL
2021 SOMMELIERS CHALLENGE WINE COMPETITION
Sourced from a legendary winery and produced from a legendary vineyard, Lot 124 is an incredible offering that will have broad appeal. This an elegant-yet-powerfully-structured wine that will age beautifully over the next 15-20 years.
The winery is a Napa Valley pioneer, the vineyard is none other than the epic, sprawling Vineyard high atop Atlas Peak. With a well-over $75/bottle price point, its an exceptional offer at $15/bottle - especially considering it has 8-months in the bottle.
Why didn't I release this sooner? It's one of those wines where I missed the tasting window before bottle shock set in.
And taken its time to come around it has. As you've likely heard from me before, the 2018's are powerfully structured yet elegantly fruited wines and, while they move through bottle shock normally, they are taking much longer than is typical to evolve/crack open in the bottle (just look at N.15 Merlot, we bottled that wine over a year ago and it is just now opening up).
This is a good thing, however, as it speaks to the tremendous ageing capability and most excellent stuffing of these wines.
Like N.15, Lot 128 is still unwinding but quite approachable with a long decant (or, better yet, a 24-hour decant). Its a gorgeously constructed wine with an elegant expression laid over a powerful structure that reflects its mountainside provenance; it should come as no surprise that this wine is still swaddled in baby fat.
Deep ruby in the glass. The bouquet starts with Santa Rosa plum and cherry notes juxtaposed with dark earth and coffee bean but grows ever more ethereal with air. The mountain perfume comes up slowly with raspberry hard candy and the classic sage and provencal garrigue joining the chorus. Dusty barrel spice aromas of brown sugar and cinnamon hard candy ebb and flow through the ever shifting bouquet. Supple on entry yet tightly-wound with Bing cherry notes riding over minerally mountain tannins that keep the mid palate focused and ethereal not to mention mouthwatering. The tannins crest and crash leaving baking spice and cherry fruit to caress the palate. As the fruit resolves, seasoned french oak and crushed walnuts echo through the long finish.
There is tremendous depth and complexity here just waiting to reveal itself...the patient will certainly be rewarded.
100% Merlot
40% new French oak, medium toast
14.2% alc
400 cases available
Bottled November 13th, 2020MerlotMerlot 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)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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