Varietal - Merlot
January 12, 2012
This vineyard, virtually adjacent to Klipsun, delivers equally good fruit but with a more restrained, feminine profile. Mineral, cassis and cherry flavors are structured on an elegant, firmly sculpted framework of acid and restrained tannins. The oak treatment is just right, and lets the fruit take center stage.
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January 12, 2012
There's a depth and meatiness to the nose on this wine, with its black cherry, plum, clove and peppercorn aromas. But the wall of blockbuster tannins that hit the palate next make it difficult to discern any of the qualities beyond, and makes it too tight and chalky for what should be a softer, more integrated variety. May improve with age, once the edge drops off.
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January 12, 2012
Everything about this Cab is just fine except the structure. It’s nicely dry and the tannins are rich and refined. The flavors are tasty, suggesting blackberries, currants, cherries, cola and smoky oak. But the acidity is so low, the wine feels lifeless and syrupy.
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Brutocao Merlot - 2005
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January 12, 2012
Packed with candied blackberry fruit and mint, this user-friendly wine drinks nice and easy. It’s stylishly dry, with sculpted tannins and good acidity. In fact, it’s downright gulpable. Drink early with grilled meats.
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January 12, 2012
This is the current release, nicely aged and drinking like a mature, well-cellared wine. A bit of Cabernet and Cabernet Franc are blended in to beef it up, but it’s Merlot that is the star here, with lovely mature flavors of dried cherry, dried plum and tobacco. Brilliant structure and surprising length.
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Townshend Merlot - 2001
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January 12, 2012
Smells a bit briary and minty, but once you take a sip, it delivers plenty of ripe, sophisticated cherry-berry fruit. The tannins are smooth and polished. There’s lots to like in this dry, full-bodied dinner wine at a giveaway price.
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January 12, 2012
Smoky and herbal, with hints of cabbage vying with overripe cherries and tree bark. Seems big in the mouth, then you realize it’s missing flesh on the midpalate.
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January 12, 2012
A little sharp and piercing at first, but with airing you get typical Chilean Merlot aromas of cherry, plum and leafy herbalness. Medium bodied, with good drive and reasonable balance and depth. Tastes good for a $10 wine, with flavors of red fruits, olive and herbs. Finishes dry and spicy.
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January 12, 2012
The winemakers speak of “wild chokecherry jam” flavors. OK. There are interesting, wild berry flavors, along with the winery’s generous, milk chocolaty, oaked-up finish. Still young and knitting together, if this wine follows the path of earlier successes, it will begin to expand and fill out over the next five or six years.
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January 12, 2012
This is quite far along the aging curve, dark and showing brick along the edges. The nose has some interesting brown sugar nuances, plenty of stiff tannins, and mature, secondary fruit aromas. Smooth, ripe and ready to drink.
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Hyatt Merlot - 2006
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