April 14, 2024 - Rich and layered.
March 22, 2024 - Smooth and full bodied with flavors of blackberries, plum, mocha and a great example of a Merlot.
February 4, 2024 - Rich and lush.
February 4, 2024 - Easy to drink....give 30 mins of glass air...improves over an hour or two. blueberries, cherry. a little hollowness...spice. long finish. the hollowness fills out as it gets more air. integrated and straightforward...not overly complex or layered.
November 4, 2023 - Deep red color with a nose of cherries, cherries and more cherries with a hint of blackberries and some bramble bushes. It goes downhill from there.
I love a good fruit bomb, but this one is so fruity, it bombed. The predominant taste is black cherries, blackberries, more cherries and even more cherries with a cloyingly sweet sense of overripe raisins (my wife tasted black licorice). I had high expectations for this wine and it failed to meet any of them. This has some serious legs from the high sugar and high alcohol (high at 14.9% but tastes a lot higer). It is almost syrupy.
I will say that the cork "popped" when I opened it, so it may have been maderized - which would have had to happened before we got it. I bought the wine in February, so it is unlikely it happened in transport and I stored it in a 55 degree wine cooler. Maybe it was just past its prime.
Served with perfectly cooked prime strip steak and cacao et pepe risotto and lima beans.
September 16, 2023 - Just a big, voluptuous, dead sexy wine. Opaque purple, Dense black fruits and bramble hit the palate, with pixelated tannins balancing out the fruit and oak really nicely right now. This is just a lot, and on paper I wouldnt think I would like it, but everything is in harmony at the moment, and it's a fun bottle. Crowd pleaser.
July 13, 2023 - Deep ruby, almost Inky in color, with a very short purplish rim.
Beautiful nose of blackberries, black plums, red cherries, tobacco, light vanilla, spices, cedar, herbs, light earth, chocolates, black pepper and eucalyptus. What a gorgeous nose.
Full-bodied, smooth and elegant, with medium acidity and long legs.
Dry on the palate with black plums, black cherries, earth, tobacco, cedar, vanilla, licorice, spices, chocolates, herbs, leather and black pepper.
Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.
This is a gorgeous Merlot from Napa Valley. Rich, extracted and elegant. Well balanced and fruit forward.
This 7-year-old is drinking very nicely now, and will continue to age nicely in the next 10 to 15 years.
Nicely balanced with a gorgeous mouthfeel. Not in your face kind of wine, which I really appreciate.
Good right out of the bottle, and better after an hour of airtime, but I did not decant it. As it opens up, more red fruits show up. Really nice, tangy and interesting.
I've had it a few times before, and it is always special. One of the best Merlos for my palate.
Good by itself or with food, and will pair nicely with a nice piece of steak. I tried it with the French Brie, but it did not work out too well. Much better with the dried meats.
A blend of 96% Merlot with tiny amounts of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged in (85% new) French Oak barrels for 20 months.
14.9% alcohol by volume.
96 points.
$120.
July 1, 2023 - Plum and blackberry fruit with mocha, graphite and tobacco accents. Some minerality. Medium acidity. Med+ tannins. Some sediment when decanted. Excellent intensity. 93+
May 11, 2023 - It's real deep, dense, and dark for a merlot, but undeniably tasty.
April 30, 2023 - A solid New World Merlot with flowers, cherries and plums on the nose, medium body, a fruit- forward rush of the same cherries and plums, flowed by mocha and spices that increase with time. Lots of soft tannins, nice balance, and a long smooth finish. Very good today, maybe even better in 2-3 years.