Winemaker Notes
2021 is their 23rd consecutive vintage of "Mernet" (mare-nay) our proprietary marriage of Merlot and Cabernet. This year the blend is 50% Merlot, all coming from their “Mailbox Vineyard”, and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 7 from their “Big K” vineyard. The resulting wine is a seamless blend with an emphasis on high-toned sweet delicious rich fruit with an almost hidden depth and structure.
Enjoy now or decades from now.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2021 Red Blend Mernet Reserve, a blend of equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, is one of the finest wines I have tasted from Keenan in some time. Pilant and explosive, with tremendous depth, the 2021 captures all the best the vintage had to offer. Dark-toned fruit, lavender, exotic white flowers, chocolate and graphite all saturate the palate. Brisk acids and a closing kick of tannin are reminders that the 2021 is going to need a few years in the cellar to be at its finest. Superb.
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James Suckling
This 50-50 blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon is quite structured, deep and dark in flavor. Firm tannins surround surprisingly generous, expansive red and black cherry, blackcurrant and dark chocolate flavors. Its good concentration and balanced tannins bode well for further aging. Drinkable now, but best from 2029.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A 50-50 blend of Merlot and Cabernet (hence the name), Keenan's 2021 Mernet Reserve offers up notes of ripe cherries, bay leaves and cedar-tobacco notes. Aged 20 months in one-third new French and American oak, with the balance in older wood, it's medium- to full-bodied and firmly structured, with at least a decade's life ahead of it but already starting to show a classic old-school Bordeaux style. It's long and silky-textured on the finish. Like Keenan's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, it's a solid value among mountain-grown, age-worthy red wines.
While the beauty and history of the land are appealing, it is the richness of the soils that makes the hillside perfect for an estate winery. These soils are, in great measure, responsible for the dramatic intensity of the fruit associated with the ultra-premium wines produced at Robert Keenan Winery.
Keenan completed a solar power system on their property that went on-line in 2007. The system supplies all of the estate’s energy needs, including the winery, administrative offices, visitor hospitality area, and the homes located on the property. The Napa Valley Vintners have recognized Keenan as a “green” winery, which they proudly announce on the back labels: Solar Powered and Sustainably Farmed.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Above the town of St. Helena on the eastern slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains sits the Spring Mountain District.
A dynamic region, its vineyards, cut by numerous springs and streams, vary in elevation, slope and aspect. Soils differ throughout with over 20 distinct types inside of the 8,600 acres that define the appellation. Within that area, only about 1,000 are planted to vineyards. Predominantly farmed by small, independent producers, the region currently has just over 30 wineries.
During the growing season, late afternoon Pacific Ocean breezes reach the Spring Mountain vineyards, which sit at between 400 and 1,200 feet. Daytime temperatures during mid summer and early fall remain slightly cooler than those of the valley floor.
Spring Mountain soils—volcanic matter and sedimentary rock—create intense but balanced reds with lush and delicate tannins. The area excels with Bordeaux varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot and in some cooler spots, Chardonnay.