Lot 69
2018 Napa Valley "Mountain" Merlot

Dark in the glass with a dusky red rim. Deep, smoky plum, mocha, and blackberry draw you down into the glass until the sensuous red currant, powdered rose petal and graphite lift the nose adding raspberry and earth as it opens up. Just bottled on October 1, its deeply shocked at this point but there is lot here to shoot at here with every swirl of the glass revealing what are ultimately fleeting glimpses of whats to come. On entry the wine is all translucence and glycerin, the fruit shocky and swaddled in baby fat with just a pretty beam of raspberry and cherry fruit echoing against big chewy tannins to show for itself. Disappointing? Hell, no. Just shocky which is to be expected at this point. The structure and complexity are all there and the palate is rich and smooth if reticent - one thing I can promise you, this wine will coalesce into a beautiful, powerful Mountain Merlot.

UPDATED TASTING NOTES 6.29.21
Still evolving but opening up nicely with brown sugar and plum, tobacco and charred French oak aromas. Rich and open knit on the palate, ripe with plum and tart cherry but still tight through the finish with potent mineral-laced tannins. Day two: sage and chaparral join the chorus and the fruit register deepens as the palate cracks open. Quite enjoyable and certainly worthy of a 24-hour decant to enjoy now. Of course, this wine has a tremendous future ahead of it as well. Spectacularly priced...