Winemaker Notes
Crafted from unique lots sourced within the Oak Knoll and Yountville sub-AVAs of Napa Valley. The wine is velvet on the palate, with rich aromas of fresh blackberry and bright cherry, complemented by concentrated briary berry compote and allspice flavors. Juicy with a solid chewy tannin structure.
Blend: 76% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This suave, velvety wine is richly layered in baking spices, cherries, berries and chocolate for an indulgent, almost sweet expression. Tasty on its own or with a filet mignon, the wine will please a crowd of red-wine-lovers.
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James Suckling
A well-made and dense merlot with dark berries, bark, vanilla and sweet spices. Medium-bodied with a fruity core of juicy berries and cherries with more of a vanilla character and chocolate in the finish.
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Wine Spectator
Plush and easygoing, with zesty cherry, toasty spice and espresso flavors that zip along toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2030. 4,136 cases made.
Textbook was inspired by the Pey Family's travels in France and Italy, where they learned about wine and its place at the table. While abroad, they fell in love with European craftsmanship – wines made with structure, restraint, and revealing a 'sense of place.' For nearly two decades, they've fulfilled that vision – crafting exceptional, while approachable wines that truly represents the best a region has to offer.
Their high-caliber grower and producer partners provide them with superior lots, allowing them to consistently deliver complexity and quality vintage to vintage.
Winemaker Abigail "Abi" Horstman Estrada sources small lots from a range of climates and soils, providing a diverse palette of flavors and aromatics. She honed her winemaking chops in Italy, New Zealand, and Israel and worked for prestige brands like Markham, Domaine Chandon, and Robert Mondavi in Napa Valley. She crafts Textbook wines by keeping the lots separate, tasting them throughout the year, and then integrating the components to create balanced, complex wines that can be enjoyed independently or with various cuisines.
As Napa Valley’s third most planted grape, Napa Valley Merlot shows time and time again its potential to produce exceptional results. Napa’s vaunted combination of climate, soil and the human factor of winemaking expertise lead to big, ripe, cellar-worthy and world-class versions.
Whether made by itself in single varietal bottlings or as an important role in Bordeaux Blends, Merlot continues a prominent role in this famous region. While Cabernet typically takes the lead role, Merlot’s contribution—even at 10% to 20% or so—is significant indeed. Often described as “the flesh on Cabernet’s bones,” Merlot lends a soft, round and plush character that beautifully complements Cabernet’s linear, full-throttle structure. Its flavors of plums plus subtle herbs and mint also dovetail nicely with Cabernet’s blackberry and cassis.