Lot 95
2018 Alexander Valley Merlot

Deep garnet in the glass. The bouquet is spicy with clove, singing cherry, and brown sugar notes wrapped in tobacco leaf. Rich up front on the palate with cherry and graham cracker haloed with herb de Provence and dried chile with a little Red Hot spice adding serious complexity. Vibrant acid and tension on mid palate are resinous with well-delineated red fruits singing throughout the lengthy finish. The suppleness that originally attracted me to this wine is a bit subdued from bottling, but I am confident that it will come around.