Paloma Spring Mountain Merlot 2008
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Paloma Spring Mountain Merlot 2008
Merlot from Napa Valley, California
ratings pedigree (past vintages):
winemaker's notes:
Our Merlot is a blend of Estate Merlot and Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. The percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon ranges from 12 to 18 percent depending on the vintage. The grapes for this wine are picked in very small amounts as each area of the vineyard reaches its peak of ripeness. The grapes are then de-stemmed and the individual berries cracked open by our 20-year-old Healdsburg stemmer/crusher (with the crusher rollers removed) and fermented in small open top fermenters or small stainless steel tanks. After fermentation the pomace is gently pressed in an old fashioned basket press and each pick is put into a stainless steel tank to settle off the gross lees. The wine then goes into our new or used French oak barrels for 19 months of barrel aging.
The resulting wine is a big, world-class red wine capable of improving with bottle aging for 10 to 15 years in most vintages. Although the wine varies with the vintage, they have a consistent thread of complex aromas of black berry fruits, black stone fruits, chocolate, tobacco, spice and floral notes with a mineral overtone. On the palate the wine has a big silky mouth feel, well balanced, with flavors of berries, fruit, cocoa, cassis, and spice, and a long spicy finish. Fruit tannins in our wines tend to be big, but not harsh and are well integrated with the strong fruit component.
critical acclaim:
"Supple and plush, showing great depth, length and balance. Aromas of red currant, loam and olive lead to ripe flavors of plum, sweet mocha and spice. Drink now through 2016."
93 Points
Wine Spectator
"Deeply fruited, impressively filled with a very keen sense of dark, well-ripened cherries that indelibly marks it as Merlot, Paloma's latest is an especially well-balanced working that is at once very rich, refined and remarkably polished. It does show a streak of fine-grained finishing tannins, but there is nothing so coarse as to raise any worries, and the wine's fruit eases its way past a bit of last-minute astringency. As good Merlot will, this one might tempt early drinking, but it has a long life before it and should evolve for years to come."
91 Points
Connoisseurs' Guide
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