2003 Provenance Napa

[winoweenie]

This is not your fathers' wimpy merlot. Brite, almost opaque ruby in the glass. Loads of berries (black, blue and boysen) with some sweet spice, violets and vanilla bean notes. All come over on the palate along with a light smokey complexity. Dense and concentrated. Solid entry, weighty center, and a 4+ lapper finish. Enough velevety tannins to carry this lovely 6-8. 91/91. 32 by the box. Didn't get the alc as we drank this at our local pushers Thurs for lunch. Thot BigRedWines was gonna do the honors but as usual he plead "bad writer syndrome". WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]( Both of us ordered a box.)

[This message has been edited by winoweenie (edited 06-24-2006).]

[This message has been edited by winoweenie (edited 06-24-2006).]

[oostexan]

WW, happy to see your impressions of one of my favorite Merlots in the valley. Do you remember which cuvee you tasted (Carneros, Paras, etc.)?

[winoweenie]

Sorry Oos but we were doing our usual job of solving most of the worlds' problems so didn't examine the bottle will let you know Mon whenced I receive my box. WW

[wondersofwine]

Nice notes, WW. I should have tried that for my California Merlot this month, but I did open a nice Australian one which I will report on later in the day.

[TheEngineer]

I also liked their merlots and this place is hard to miss visually when driving up 29. This BIG RED building on the West side of the Road.

They also use to do a nice little port with great tea flavors, but their most recent 1/2 port bottle was no where near as thick.

[oostexan]

WW, did you ever catch which cuvee this was?

[winoweenie]

'Twere the Napa, a blend of the Oak Knoll and Carneros. WW

[This message has been edited by winoweenie (edited 10-23-2006).]

[bigredwines]

Had one of these last night with a National Hebrew hot dog and some Cougar Gold cheese.What a lovely pairing.WW I forgot how good this merlot is.This is one of the biggest merlots from start to finish . Your notes are right on.If any of you have an opportunuty to pick this up --run don't walk. I kicked the score to 92/92 4 lapper finish and 6-8 on aging. favorite merlot producers Duckhorn,Pride and of course Provenance

[winoweenie]

Hope that rough ole' keyboard dint' blister your delicate little pinkies! Nice note BRW. WW [img]http://wines.com/ubb/wink.gif[/img]

[oostexan]

I need to add this one the the accumulate list!

[winoweenie]

Had another of these lovelies with lunch yesterday of wild Alaskan salmon done in a Chimichurra sauce and fresh mexican grey squash. Still one killer bottle of juice. WW

[winoweenie]

Opened another yesterday again with the wild Alaskan Salmon with the chimmichurra sauce. Forgot I had the same pairing back in Feb but it sure works. No change in scoring. WW ( by the by alc is 14.5% )

[winoweenie]

Opened another last nite with Chile-Lime Chicken burgers patties from Trader Joes accompanied by fresh spinach with Italian style tomatoes. Nose has improved enough to kick this sucker up a pernt to 91. Still hopping merrily down the grapey trail and shows no signs of slowing. Lovely merlot. WW