Made By James
San Lucas Estate Vineyard Merlot
Monterey County, Central Coast, California, USA
Simple label to go with what the ‘winemaker’s statement’ says is a less is more approach to letting the grapes 🍇 express themselves. Lovely color in the glass. Crimson. Slightest of rust on the edge. Aroma is less fruit driven and more earthy. Bit of drying summer soil with classic Bordeaux red bittersweet berry streak. Flavors are musky and clean. Some roasted sweet peppers 🫑 of all colors and tart cherry. Smoke and herbaceous plant stems too. For a 14.5%ABV wine that I’d assume was left to get pretty ripe, this has nice balance and plenty of juiciness instead of the plump vanilla-toffee tones of so many CA over-oaked reds. This is a nice Merlot from Monterrey.
Simple label to go with what the ‘winemaker’s statement’ says is a less is more approach to letting the grapes 🍇 express themselves. Lovely color in the glass. Crimson. Slightest of rust on the edge. Aroma is less fruit driven and more earthy. Bit of drying summer soil with classic Bordeaux red bittersweet berry streak. Flavors are musky and clean. Some roasted sweet peppers 🫑 of all colors and tart cherry. Smoke and herbaceous plant stems too. For a 14.5%ABV wine that I’d assume was left to get pretty ripe, this has nice balance and plenty of juiciness instead of the plump vanilla-toffee tones of so many CA over-oaked reds. This is a nice Merlot from Monterrey.
Jan 8th, 2023