Lot 4 | 2017 Napa Valley Merlot 750ml

Lot 4
2017 Napa Valley Merlot

Description

Plum, chocolate, and black currant give way to soaring blue fruit, blackberry and graham cracker. Supple on entry with a juicy mid-palate that delivers blue fruit, black cherry and mineral earth on a wave of silky tannins. Complex and ripe now with beautiful mouthfeel but also gobs of stuffing and 10-15 years of ageing capability. This is a gorgeous example of Napa Valley Merlot and, given its front line retail at $50-60/bottle, a stellar deal at $20/bottle equivalent.

Check-in tasting 6.23.21 - Like N.03, opening now with deep rich fruit and maybe worth sacrificing a bottle to posterity if only to watch how this evolves over the next 15-20 years. Bourbon American oak chewy tannins, crushed rock, range of pie to fresh cherry. Dichotomy of savory oak and roasted chile are filled with lifted red fruits. Day 2: cherry, forest floor and vanilla aromas meet dense, dark fruit that goes supernova with tannins and minerality on the palate. Drinkable, but still a baby.