Winemaker Notes
A great example of why Merlot belongs in the mountains, the 2022 Mt. Brave Merlot opens with boysenberry, blueberry jam, and deep chocolate. Minerality and mouthwatering acidity refresh the palate on the way to a lengthy finish.
Blend: 84% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
One of the most structured, focused and intense merlots in Napa Valley. So laced with super-fine-grained tannins, it’s pointed, precise, linear and concentrated. A powerful wine that will age gracefully. Deep in black cherries, red cherries, cocoa, iron and graphite notes. Contains 15% cabernet sauvignon.
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Decanter
This Merlot showcases the power of mountain tannins, balanced by the generosity of the vintage and winemaker Chris Carpenter’s meticulous attention to rootstock, clone, and site—each influencing the tannin profile in the grape skins from every corner of the vineyards he farms. Blended with 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged for 22 months in 74% new French oak, the wine offers rich, expressive notes of mulberry and thyme, dark chocolate dusted with black sea salt, and nuances of underbrush and deep forest redwood that unfurl on the ever-lingering finish. A powerful, structured Merlot that remains remarkably approachable—and more than capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with the best in the world.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Merlot from Mt. Brave is a gorgeous Mount Veeder release that's 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 22 months in 74% new French oak. Juicy red and black berries, leafy herbs, resinous notes, leather, baking spice, and hints of chocolate all emerge from the glass. Rich and medium to full-bodied, it offers a round, lush mouthfeel with ample mid-palate depth, impressive purity, and finesse. This beautifully made Merlot will drink well for 15+ years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A terrific example of age-worthy Merlot, the 2022 Merlot Mt. Veeder features sage, blackberries and black cherries, even a bit of blueberries, all underscored by hints of mocha. It's full-bodied and bright, those acids underscoring the wine's fine-grained tannins. Concentrated and long on the finish, it seems capable of evolving positively for up to two decades.
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Wine Spectator
Muscular and firm in structure, with brooding black currant, mineral and savory anise flavors that build tension toward broad-shouldered tannins. Best from 2026 through 2033.
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.
Centered at the peak for which it is named, Mount Veeder is Napa’s largest sub-AVA. But even though the entire appellation spreads over 16,000 acres, vineyards cover a mere 1,000. Scattered among Douglas firs and bristlecone pines, Mount Veeder vineyards extend south from the upper elevations of the Mayacamas Mountains—the highest point at 2,400 feet—to the border of the Carneros region. Less than 25 wineries produce wine from Mount Veeder fruit.
Winemaking began early in this appellation. In 1864, Captain Stelham Wing presented the first Mount Veeder wine to the Napa County Fair; it came from today’s Wing Canyon Vineyard. Prohibition, of course, halted winemaking and viticulture wasn’t revitalized until the founding of Mayacamas Vineyards in 1951 and Bernstein Vineyards in 1964.
The Bernstein Vineyards was actually home to the first Petit Verdot in California, planted in 1975. Today most of the Petit Verdot in Napa Valley originates from this vineyard.
Rocky volcanic clay and ancient seabed matter dominate Mount Veeder soils—perfect for Bordeaux varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot enjoy spectacular success. These varieties produce wines rich in brambly blackberry and black cherry fruit with herbal and floral aromatics. Structures are moderate to assertive and wines have great staying power.
Chardonnay from Mount Veeder is lush, full and balanced mineral and fresh citrus flavors.