A smooth, crowd-pleasing merlot, this jams blackberry & toffee flavors into a confit to sweeten a steak.

Dark red. Sexy, expressive, slightly high-toned nose melds red currant, cranberry, leather and nuts. Supple and refined, with a creamy texture to the red fruit and spice flavors. Finishes with broad, dusty tannins and lovely aromatic persistence. Slightly high-toned throughout but not overly sweet. I find this quite suave.

There is a real wealth of sweet cherry qualities to both the liberally oaked aromas and the slightly juicy flavors of this mouthfilling Merlot, but all of its richness comes at the cost of some last-minute heat. In the end, ripeness overtakes its fruitier parts, and it dries out just a bit at the finish. It is, however, still a generous and very commendable wine. It is just a bit less involving and lacks the fruity extension shown by its two high-achieving siblings.

Medium ruby; attractive, spicy, red berry and cherry fruit aroma with hints of coffee and vanilla; medium-full to full body; rich, spicy, red berry fruit flavors; well balanced and structured; full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Deserves another year or two of bottle aging. Very highly recommended.

You'll find tannins aplenty in this tightly wound mountain Merlot. That gives it a shut-down, dry astringency. Aging is the obvious solution, and such is the balance, the harmony that five to ten years should soften and sweeten, letting the blackberry and cherry fruit emerge.

Ripe and fleshy, with a pretty dash of toasty oak. The fruit is sweet, with currant and berry flavors that are intense, concentrated and complex, ending with a pretty burst of fruit and oak that lingers. Well-structured, with ripe tannins. Drink now through 2013. 3,390 cases made.

Slightly lighter than previous vintages, the lean 2004 Merlot reveals austere tannin in the finish, but it offers nice herbal undertones in the attractive berry and mocha fruit. Drink this medium-bodied Merlot over the next 3-4 years.