O'Brien Estate
Reserve Napa Valley Merlot
Napa Valley, California, USA
Big, menthol, macerated blue and black fruit, French oak, viscous, buttered bourbon- needs air and time. Serious Napa style. Impressive!
Big, menthol, macerated blue and black fruit, French oak, viscous, buttered bourbon- needs air and time. Serious Napa style. Impressive!
Apr 17th, 2021
Thanks @Steve Distler from O'Brien Estate for rushing this out to us! We decided to save it for the weekend after Valentine's Day when we could sit back, watch some netflix and really enjoy this beauty. After reading the reviews online from the likes of Parker etc, we decided that this needed a big decant. We popped it open right before lunch and came back to try it out 8 hours. Deep and dark purple, almost black. Insanely thick and coats the sides of the glass. Fruit bomb on the attack! Tons of fruit, creme de cassis, blackberries, and baking spices like cinnamon. Was still very tight initially, after another two hours started to show some earthy undertones, and mesquite smoked wood. Heavy tannins (8.5/10) and full bodied. This baby is a powerhouse. Heavily extracted, voluptuous, plush and silky with a kick. As soon as you take a sip it coats your throat with cassis and even more dark berries. Long and dark finish, carries the dark fruits throughout. A little heat in the finish most probably just due to age. This wine definitely needs more time in the bottle. If we had anymore we wouldn't touch this until 2017 with a long long decant. A ton of potential! This wine is made from 100% Merlot, and aged 75% new French oak. Only 100 cases produced.
Thanks @Steve Distler from O'Brien Estate for rushing this out to us! We decided to save it for the weekend after Valentine's Day when we could sit back, watch some netflix and really enjoy this beauty. After reading the reviews online from the likes of Parker etc, we decided that this needed a big decant. We popped it open right before lunch and came back to try it out 8 hours. Deep and dark purple, almost black. Insanely thick and coats the sides of the glass. Fruit bomb on the attack! Tons of fruit, creme de cassis, blackberries, and baking spices like cinnamon. Was still very tight initially, after another two hours started to show some earthy undertones, and mesquite smoked wood. Heavy tannins (8.5/10) and full bodied. This baby is a powerhouse. Heavily extracted, voluptuous, plush and silky with a kick. As soon as you take a sip it coats your throat with cassis and even more dark berries. Long and dark finish, carries the dark fruits throughout. A little heat in the finish most probably just due to age. This wine definitely needs more time in the bottle. If we had anymore we wouldn't touch this until 2017 with a long long decant. A ton of potential! This wine is made from 100% Merlot, and aged 75% new French oak. Only 100 cases produced.
Feb 22nd, 2016Dark purple, blackberry, slate, cassis, beautifully balanced, with a smooth oaky finish, this was a fabulous wine.
Dark purple, blackberry, slate, cassis, beautifully balanced, with a smooth oaky finish, this was a fabulous wine.
Nov 27th, 2016