Napa Valley, California, USA
Presented double-blind at Tasting Group. The wine is a deep ruby color with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity with some significant staining of the tears. No signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with powerful notes of plums, dark brambles, cocoa, cedar box, and baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The alcohol is medium++. This is big and fancy and tastes, expensive. Initial conclusions: this could be Merlot, Malbec, or Syrah from the USA, Argentina or France. However, the wine wasn’t purple enough for Malbec and I didn’t get any rotundune for me to chose Syrah. The tannins were silky smooth and the fruit was generous, plush and slightly tart which gave me a clue about the vintage. Since I felt like this wine leaned toward its fruit, my final conclusion is that this is Merlot, from the USA, from California, from Napa Valley, 2018 vintage. Boom! I think this is drinking really well right now and it hides its alcohol (15.6%!) remarkably well. Drink now and through 2028.
Presented double-blind at Tasting Group. The wine is a deep ruby color with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity with some significant staining of the tears. No signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with powerful notes of plums, dark brambles, cocoa, cedar box, and baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The alcohol is medium++. This is big and fancy and tastes, expensive. Initial conclusions: this could be Merlot, Malbec, or Syrah from the USA, Argentina or France. However, the wine wasn’t purple enough for Malbec and I didn’t get any rotundune for me to chose Syrah. The tannins were silky smooth and the fruit was generous, plush and slightly tart which gave me a clue about the vintage. Since I felt like this wine leaned toward its fruit, my final conclusion is that this is Merlot, from the USA, from California, from Napa Valley, 2018 vintage. Boom! I think this is drinking really well right now and it hides its alcohol (15.6%!) remarkably well. Drink now and through 2028.
Dec 5th, 2023
