Winemaker Notes
The nose is precise, complex, deep, and generous yet with a lot of finesse and a mélange of black cherries, cedar and fresh cacao. The mouth feel has energy, is juicy and inviting with savory notes, dark berries, elegant tannins with a long and balanced finish. Drink between 2021 (after decanting) and 2030.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Fruit from the Mount Veeder and Stags Leap AVAs brings this 97% Merlot and 3% Cab Sauvignon to liquid life. Barrel aged for 18 months in 50% new French oak, it’s a big, expressive red that stays savory thanks to notes of dark-chocolate espresso, black olive, pencil shavings, and sandalwood, but it finishes with bright enthusiasm.
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.
Covering the western slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains, facing the city of Sonoma, Moon Mountain District is one of Sonoma’s newest sub-appellations. Here the well-drained, red volcanic and ash soils produce hauntingly intense red wines, mainly from Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties.