Winemaker Notes
Red and black fruit aromas range from cherry to plum to currant with minerally slate and darker subtle notes of caramel, licorice, and tar adding intrigue. The palate possesses a sensuous roundness so typical of great merlot with a beautiful lithe energy echoing with the dark flavors on the long finish.
Blend: 91% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2019 Merlot is very pretty in this vintage. Floral and spice notes give the Merlot a striking aromatic upper register that is both distinctive and alluring. Sweet red cherry, cinnamon and rose petal all build nicely in the glass. Best of all, the Pride Merlot will drink well right out of the gate.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Pride Mountain Vineyards Napa - Sonoma Merlot is powerful yet well-built and nicely balanced. TASTING NOTES: This wine delivers aromas and flavors of black fruit, licorice, and oak. Enjoy it with the first cut from a prime rib. (Tasted: August 15, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A 70-30 blend of fruit from Napa and Sonoma, the 2019 Merlot includes 9% Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose offers up hints of mint, cherry tomatoes and redcurrants, plus some riper notions of cherries and raspberries, while the medium to full-bodied palate is smooth and supple, marked by ripe, easygoing tannins and a softly dusty finish. The wine is already approachable but should drink well for close to a decade. Best After 2023
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Jeb Dunnuck
The classic 2019 Merlot comes 70% from Napa County and 30% from Sonoma County. It offers more black cherry and darker fruits as well as Bordeaux-like notes of cedarwood, damp earth, and spice. Medium-bodied on the palate, nicely balanced, and textured, it has a firmer edge that's going to soften with a year or two of bottle age. It should drink nicely through 2029.
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.