2002 Provenance Mount Veeder Merlot

[oostexan]

Yeah, I know...Merlot is totally out of fashion. Just look at this board, only one Merlot tasting note in the last 60 days. I have a couple cases of Merlot in the cellar that I have collected over the past several years during trips to Napa (not including my Bordeaux), and thought I would pull one out to see if I was crazy or not. At the time I bought it, I thought it was great...but strange things can happen when you spend all day drinking wine in Napa.

Provenance is one of my favorite Napa wineries. Tom Rinaldi, who was the head winemaker at Duckhorn for close to 20 years, left to be the founding winemaker at Provenance. I think that his wines are outstanding, and all are still reasonable priced, though they have been creeping up there over the past few years.

Tonight was a night and I wanted to cork something special. The wifey and I spent all day working hard on the yard, and we decided it was time to break the diet and put a couple Ribeyes on the grill. So this wine washed down a few Ribeyes, some grilled corn coated in Olive oil, and grilled onions and tomatoes. Geez, I had that grill as hot as I could get it when I threw all of this yummy grub on it.

Anyway, on to the wine. I corked it, poured, then let it air in the glasses for close to 45 minutes before we started driking it. And WOW, what a nose! Dense aroms of earth and casis. On the palate, a mouthfull of dense and rich Merlot. Gobs of concetrated fruit with a subtle chocolate note on the back of the palate. As it aired out, it just kept getting better and better. Washed down a couple seared Ribeyes in perfoect fashion.

If your going to drink Merlot, this is what it is supposed to be.

I hope the purchase of Provenance by Chalone does not force Rinaldi to leave, he is doing great things in that winery.



[This message has been edited by oostexan (edited 06-10-2006).]