Sunday, March 21, 2010

Merryvale

TRL/Staff/Wine = 9/7+/7

The most notable feature of the tasting room was the room full of old casks surrounding a 52-seat table, like a huge chamber. At the head, a cask that had been turned vertical and housed an 8-place roiund table in it.

The Cab Sauvignons were great, just overpriced. It was tough to score the wine under a ranking of 10…until you have pull your wallet out.

2005 Pinot Noir Carneros: $35/-/$30
Balanced; not too big of anything. Not bad, but not notable.

2003 Sonoma County Syrah: $30/-/$25
Classic Dry Creek Valley nose but flat finish. Mostly spicy/acidic finish.

2002 Beckstoffer Vineyard Merlot: $39/-/$30
Big fruit on the nose, even palate. Little over-priced but a good wine.
(Epilogue: 3 years later, I found this wine at a little place in the Gaslamp District of San Diego called the Wine Bank. They, of course were selling it at $39.99/bottle. With some shrewd negotiations, we purchased two cases @ $30/bottle; the same price we valued it at 3 years earlier, at the winery. What can I say? It's a really good wine.)

2003 Reserve Merlot: $35/-/$28
12% Cab Sau/3% Petit Verdot
Thin nose/palate.

2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve: $39/-/$42
5% Merlot/4% Cabernet Franc

2003 Oakville Grade: $75/-/-

2003 Clone 6 Cabernet Sauvignon (100%): $95/-/$60

2001 Profile: $110/-/$80
Lisa loved it!

2002 Profile: $110/-/$85
Jamie loved it!

1999 Profile: $125/-/$60

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