As for their own wines, all of which come from southern Napa sites in Oak Knoll and Coombsville, the 2005 is certainly one of the finest wines they have yet made. A 1,000-case blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec, the wine is dense purple-colored to the rim, with an exquisite nose of charcoal, graphite, and blackberry liqueur. Full-bodied, with great power, richness, and sensational length, this wine will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle-age and last three decades. - WA, RP (12/2007)
(15.5% alcohol; blended with 4% petit verdot and 2% malbec) Good deep ruby. Black fruits, graphite, bitter chocolate and spices on the vibrant, quintessential cabernet nose. Sweet, lush and chewy, with terrific concentration to the flavors of blackcurrant, chocolate, mocha and minerals. Wonderfully full, sexy and deep for the vintage ("you'll find a lot of thin, high-alcohol wines in 2005," noted Mark Herold), but with lovely energy and lift at the same time. A firmly structured, ageworthy cabernet that finishes with big, broad tannins and excellent length. "It was a challenge to get our growers to drop crop in '05 but it was necessary owing to the size of the flowering and the cool summer," said Herold. "We picked into the beginning of November, and even then we decided to declassify the fruit that didn't ripen properly." A highly successful vintage for this bottling. Incidentally, Merus was recently purchased by William Foley, owner of Foley, Firestone and Lincourt, among other wineries. Foley hopes to find some prime Napa Valley vineyards for partners Herold and Erika Gottl, who until now have relied on purchased fruit to make their wine.- Stephen Tanzer (05/2008)
Producer: Merus
Vintage: 2005
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Country: USA
Region: CA - North Coast (Napa,Sonoma)
Sub-Region: Napa
Appellation: Napa Valley
Sub-Appellation:
SKU: #
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