California Merlot

WINE TALK
21

Three Palms.

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Kapcsandy Roberta’s Reserve

23

Paloma with some age is nice, but you would not confuse it for a Right Bank wine.

24

I love Ridge zins. Didn’t even realize they make merlot.

I’ll have to get one of those and randomly pick a couple of others mentioned here!

Thanks, gents!

25

Blankiet’s Rive Droit is excellent. The 2008 might be my wine of the year.

26

funny, I think a Blankiet was the last bottle of Merlot I remember having. A while ago, but I remember it being very well made.

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Good one.

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Great topic! I second the note on Blankiet’s Rive Droite - I think this is one of the best Right Bank blends coming out of CA, though I would recommend drinking in the first 5-8 years of life. More generally, I love fine CA Merlot, and my preferences lean towards the riper end of the spectrum. For what it’s worth, here’s my ranking of high-end Merlots coming out of CA:

TIER ONE (Profound)

I think these wines, all blends, are truly special, in that they start with Merlot and create something complex, soft, and delicious.

  • Realm’s Tempest
  • Blankiet’s Rive Droite
  • Larkmead’s Firebelle (with a few years of age)

TIER TWO (Awfully Good)

I think these are reliable, high-quality Merlots that are exceptional year-in and year-out.

  • Pahlmeyer’s Merlot (especially with a few years of age)
  • Blackbird’s Illustration (or, at half the price, Arise)
  • Carter’s Hossfeld Coliseum

TIER THREE (Really Good)

These mostly fall in the $50-$60 range, and they are fantastic for the price. If you don’t believe in quality Merlot coming out of CA, start here.

  • Shafer
  • Plumpjack
  • Hourglass
  • Pride

There are a few others that are good, though I’m not sure how well they perform across vintages (e.g., Venge, Turnbulll, Arietta, Daou’s Micho). I imagine La Verite’s Muse and Kapscandy’s Roberta Reserve might fall in the first category, but I haven’t tried them. I’d love to hear other’s inputs on this topic…

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I have had a couple of bottles of Trefethen that were good and reasonably priced.

That’s a good suggestion. Kind of straight down the middle. If you want them riper, sweeter, and thicker, that’s something like Switchback Ridge or the current vintages of Pahlmeyer or Foley or Pride, but my wife and I weren’t able to finish a bottle of Switchback - it was way overdone. If you want something with more tannins and somewhat right-bank-like at a decent price, try Steltzner Estate.

Or look at Washington.

30

I haven’t had other vintages, but a 2012 Frog’s Leap Merlot was also a nice wine with good acidity (for the grape) and at a nice sub-$40 price.

31

For a “value” CA Merlot that’s actually drinkable, hard to beat Beringer’s Napa Valley bottling.

And this.

Not sure much from CA can touch the pricing/quality/availability combo of Tamarack, L’Ecole N° 41 and many others.

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I agree pretty much 100% with your post. I definitely think Kapscandy’s Roberta Reserve would be in tier one and I would add Bucella to your tier 2 list.

33

If blends are okay, I’d put Andrew Will at the top of that list, as long as one is patient enough to give them 10+ years in the cellar.

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There are lots of older Duckhorn merlot bottlings, including some single-vineyard ones, for around $40 or less, on Winebid.

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The Verite is very nice but the prices have skyrocketed, beginning around 2010. I’d go for Paloma or SBack Ridge.

36

Amen to that!!

37

Santa Cruz:
Ridge Estate Merlot

Napa:
Arietta Merlot, Hudson Vineyards

38

I like Duckhorn’s Rector Creek Vineyard merlot.

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big +1. Bargains abound for mature California merlot.

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paloma
pride
switchback ridge
pahlmeyer
blankiet