October 14, 2023 - This pours deep ruby in the glass with touches of purple. The nose is deep, rich and dark fruited showing cassis, blackberry, crushed gravel, and tobacco. The palate is still tightly coiled with super rich and concentrated dark fruit on entry with medium plus tannin and medium plus acid. The finish goes quite tart and bitter on dark berry seed notes along the finish. All in all this is a traditionally styled mountain merlot with all the depth and structure you'd expect. The only challenge for here is were about 10 - 20 years too early on it. I'd expect improvement and it to pick up a few points as it ages, which is seems well poised to do.
April 27, 2022 - Dark garnet purple colored, medium full bodied, round, concentrated full black berry fruits with notes of bramble, smoke, pepper, spice and hint of tobacco with tangy acidity on the tongue puckering lingering finish. There was a fair amount of sediment that I should have strained or decanted off but in the simplicity of the evening, I simply popped and poured.
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/04/mayacamas-mt-veeder-merlot-2006.html
June 22, 2018 - 3rd of 4 bottles and we will likely drink the last soon as the wine is drinking extremely well. Worried at first as the cork absolutely disintegrated and we needed to pour trough cheese cloth. As soon as the wine was in the glass, though, the incredibly expressive aromas sifted out cleanly - mint, berries, lavender, vanilla, pepper, tobacco. Bright acidity on the palate, almost too much but the complexity of flavor catches up and rounds it out.
April 14, 2018 - Vigorous, alive wine, showing no diminishing signs after a dozen years of age. Impressive acid, expressive fruit (red mixed with blue/black), earthiness, good length, intensity. Such impressive winemaking. Great steak wine, and shows well after several hours of air. Tons of residue.
February 27, 2018 - Has matured nicely since the last bottle we drank in late 2016. Opens up pleasantly with fresh strawberry and mint, through earth and minerals mid-palate, and light smooth tannin. Medium bodied. Nice balanced acidity on the finish. I think this is at its peak or close.
August 27, 2017 - Opened 90 minutes in advance. Berry fruit aroma, with flowers and some funk. Pure, rich melange of fruit flavors with cassis, blackberry. Black pepper in the deep, full finish. Solid structure, complex, old school. This is in its prime and singing.
December 23, 2016 - A big step up in stuffing in comparison to the 2004. This still shows some richness of body and fruit. A lot of tannin still lingering. Not complex in an expressive way and I do not think after tracking it over a couple days it will pick up any over time. The oddest thing was the soft sediment. There was a ton of sediment BTW but a lot of it was of a soft floaty kind that was irritating. Maybe I got one of the bottles that a barrel was emptied into. It felt like juice pulp when it hit the palate. A good wine over all and not going anywhere anytime soon. Drink now or leave be. The kind of wine you wish more wines were still made like.
October 1, 2016 - I shouldn't have been surprised, but the wine opened up quite a bit and improved on the second day. On the first day, opened a bit flat, with a dried berry note. Second day, the minerals, acidity and structure of the high altitude really came through and provided just the right balancing aspects to the fruit element. We have 3 more and will probably wait another 2+ years.
June 28, 2015 - Deep purple color, nothing distinctive either on the nose or the palate. Very smooth, elegant, a bit gritty....Solid, not complex nor spectacular, but a nice drinking wine.
July 14, 2014 - Altitude wine with the appropriate levels of balance, acidity and tartness. Lots of pomegranate. An alive wine that's not especially complex but satisfying nonetheless.