Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot 2016
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2016 Merlot offers enticing aromas of plum, cherry pits, menthol, dried flowers, while subtle mesquite excites the senses. But it is the silky textural pleasure in the mouth that grabs your attention, offering a seamless transition from start to finish. There is enough acidity to suggest great food pairing and long-term aging potential, but it will be hard to wait on this beauty.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Juicy, savory, spicy and well integrated, this bold beauty offers so much of what the variety is while combining 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot. With a backbone of tannin and oak, it shines in lasting accents of clove, chocolate and red and black currant, rich and smooth.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Composed of 84% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot all coming from Napa Valley, the 2016 Merlot features warm red and black plums, freshly crushed blackberries and mulberries with nuances of spice cake, tobacco leaf, star anise and vanilla pod. The medium-bodied palate offers fresh black berries and plum flavors with a lovely spicy undercurrent and soft texture, finishing with great freshness and purity. 4404 cases were made.
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With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Reaching up California's coastline and into its valleys north of San Francisco, the North Coast AVA includes six counties: Marin, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake. While Napa and Sonoma enjoy most of the glory, the rest produce no shortage of quality wines in an intriguing and diverse range of styles.
Climbing up the state's rugged coastline, the chilly Marin County, just above the City and most of Sonoma County, as well as Mendocino County on the far north end of the North Coast successfully grow cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and in some spots, Riesling. Inland Lake County, on the other hand, is considerably warmer, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc produce some impressive wines with affordable price tags.