Vérité: The Truth of Sonoma This wine is very beautiful, long and silky while very refreshing and alive. Drinking impeccably after three hours of decant. Tart cherry, roses, tobacco, savory herbs, thyme and rosemary. Pure perfection.

Vérité: The Truth of Sonoma Truffle on the nose. Black licorice, fennel, anise, and sandalwood perfume with a big pop of blue fruit that dominates the mid-palate.

Established in 1995, the Stonestreet estate covers 2225 hectares of rich volcanic soil in the Mayacamas Mountains. This cornerstone California cabernet sauvignon says it all with an intense cassis, mulberry and cedarwood bouquet and a tight, sinewy profile. The bold flavours complement the fine-grained tannins. Roast beef is a solid match.

Asian Chardonnay Masters of 2018: Gold Another Jackson Family Wines’ Chardonnay made with parcels picked from high-elevation vineyards in its Stonestreet winery in Alexander Valley also stood out, and earned a Gold medal. This was a plusher example but had plenty lively acidity and structure.

Our Highest Rated Costco Wines of 2018 Not many whites on this list, but we had a few that landed close in the 90-91 range. This Stonestreet Chardonnay just hit us right across the board. It was $26, which is off a retail of $40-45. We noted “This is a killer Chardonnay drinking way above its price tag, and the 2015 vintage follows suit. You can check out the wine’s historical ratings here on the Wine.com page, and they are consistently in the low to mid 90’s which is beyond impressive.”

To this palate, the most impressive current Siduris include the husky yet silken Siduri 2017 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir; the lean and precise Siduri 2017 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; the unusually aromatic, dynamic and layered Siduri 2016 Willamette Valley Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir; the fresh and charming Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir; the deep, weighty and assertive Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Perry Ranch Pinot Noir; and the elegant and sharp-edged Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Ewald Pinot Noir.

To this palate, the most impressive current Siduris include the husky yet silken Siduri 2017 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir; the lean and precise Siduri 2017 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; the unusually aromatic, dynamic and layered Siduri 2016 Willamette Valley Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir; the fresh and charming Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir; the deep, weighty and assertive Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Perry Ranch Pinot Noir; and the elegant and sharp-edged Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Ewald Pinot Noir.

To this palate, the most impressive current Siduris include the husky yet silken Siduri 2017 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir; the lean and precise Siduri 2017 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; the unusually aromatic, dynamic and layered Siduri 2016 Willamette Valley Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir; the fresh and charming Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir; the deep, weighty and assertive Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Perry Ranch Pinot Noir; and the elegant and sharp-edged Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Ewald Pinot Noir.

To this palate, the most impressive current Siduris include the husky yet silken Siduri 2017 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir; the lean and precise Siduri 2017 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; the unusually aromatic, dynamic and layered Siduri 2016 Willamette Valley Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir; the fresh and charming Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir; the deep, weighty and assertive Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Perry Ranch Pinot Noir; and the elegant and sharp-edged Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Ewald Pinot Noir.

To this palate, the most impressive current Siduris include the husky yet silken Siduri 2017 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir; the lean and precise Siduri 2017 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; the unusually aromatic, dynamic and layered Siduri 2016 Willamette Valley Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir; the fresh and charming Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir; the deep, weighty and assertive Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Perry Ranch Pinot Noir; and the elegant and sharp-edged Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Ewald Pinot Noir.

To this palate, the most impressive current Siduris include the husky yet silken Siduri 2017 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir; the lean and precise Siduri 2017 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; the unusually aromatic, dynamic and layered Siduri 2016 Willamette Valley Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir; the fresh and charming Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir; the deep, weighty and assertive Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Perry Ranch Pinot Noir; and the elegant and sharp-edged Siduri 2016 Russian River Valley Ewald Pinot Noir.

Obsession in the Willamette Valley, Part Three We tasted eight wines, and I’m going to focus on four… The Estate Vineyard pinot from 2016 is elegant and develops impressively pure fruit and earth: plum, cherry, strawberry, Acai and a dirty minerality quality that evokes wet dirt from a minerally-diverse quarry. It’s a thoughtful wine I’ve had several times, always hoping that I’d be able to try it again with ten years of age on it.

Obsession in the Willamette Valley, Part Three We tasted eight wines, and I’m going to focus on four… The 2016 Élevée Vineyard pinot noir from the Dundee Hills offers a powerful level of prettiness. Coming from an area in the Willamette Valley that Lynn calls the “banana belt,” there is substantial depth of red fruit, especially Acai and pomegranate, to go with tobacco and violets. The tannins are very fine. Lynn dials back the extraction on fruit from this vineyard in order to prevent too much bitterness from the seeds getting into the wine, and uses extended cold soaks in draw out longer, smoother tannins to ensure the winery’s signature richness. It works quite well.

Obsession in the Willamette Valley, Part Three We tasted eight wines, and I’m going to focus on four… Finally, the show stopper for me: the 2015 Zena Crown pinot noir. Using fruit from her exclusive contract on block 8 of the esteemed Zena Crown vineyard, it’s a downright impressive and captivating wine: meaty on the nose, juicy on the palate and fun and serious at the same time. The diversity of flavors and aromas include graphite, salt and pepper, iron, baking spice, mint and a cornucopia of red and black fruit that are silky in their sweetness. It has a decadence to it, however the retained acid prevents it from actually becoming sappy or heavy. What a wine.

Savour a dozen hot new wines for the fall season Although this Oregon Pinot sits around the mid-$40 mark, if I were blind-tasting I’d venture it much pricier. Brambly forest-floor notes lift a host of pretty raspberries and blackberries to lofty heights, where they meet cardamom, bergamot, and nutmeg. Silky ,with well-integrated tannins, even at this fairly young age it’s really hitting its stride.

Obsession in the Willamette Valley, Part Three We tasted eight wines, and I’m going to focus on four. The first is the 2017 viognier, which has set my standard for domestic viognier since I first tried it a few years ago. Viognier should be have a lush sensation, but too often it’s produced to the point of opulence, which is a mistake as the variety easily slides into flabby territory if not restrained before it enters that zone. Viognier can have trouble putting on enough acid to be interesting, even under the attentive watch of the winemaker. This makes the winemaker’s role a necessary but insufficient part of achieving nice acid. What has made Penner-Ash’s viognier the standard for me is that Lynn gets the right level of acid and body restraint, and finds a nice balance, every year. The 2017 is full-bodied, ripe and lush to the extent that it hits an unusual level of elegance for the variety. The acid is sharp, clean and maintains an engaging tension from first taste to finish. The flavors are tropical and spicy. I always look forward to a bottle of Penner-Ash viognier.

The 5 best wines for International Merlot Month These grapes are grown in higher elevations and the yields are smaller. It smells like blue fruit and a touch of bacon fat. This is a big, concentrated wine with mocha and it is something special. Buy two. Drink one now and save one for a couple of years. It will be fun to see how it ages.

The Best Merlot Wine To Enjoy Now: MerlotMe A Napa Valley Merlot that I adore comes from Mount Brave. This wine is made by one of the most incredible winemakers in Napa Valley, Christopher Carpenter who also makes Lokoya Wines, Cardinale Wines, La Jota and also Hickinbotham. For those of you who have not been to Lokoya Winery it’s quite possibly the most beautiful and unique settings of any winery I’ve visited in Napa Valley and suggest it to all wine lovers. Read more about Lokoya here and get yourself in there soon and you’ll thank me… The Mt. Brave Merlot may be one of my favorite Merlots on this list as I’d describe it as a Cabernet Sauvignon drinkers Merlot. It’s super rich in flavor with dark fruit expressions, an extremely full body texture with incredible tannins and that big mountain fruit taste. The terroir of Mt. Veeder is evident on the tongue of this rich, delicious 2015 Mount Brave Merlot. Merlot that will melt in your mouth.

The merlots from mountain-grown grapes are the best, as this one from atop Napa Valley’s Mt. Veeder will attest. Because of the elevation and rocky slopes, there is a lot of labor and care devoted to this wine. Plum, blueberry and blackberry flavors laced with mocha highlight this outstanding merlot.

FOOD PAIRINGS FOR MERLOT LOVERS #MERLOTME #WINEPW Medium purple in color with a hint of orange at the rim. Medium+ acidity, body, and tannins. On the palate blueberry, black cherry, hints of licorice, mocha, and toasted oak. The mouthfeel is soft and round. Nicely balanced and complex. Food Pairing: The lamb chops with rosemary and garlic were perfect with the fruity and earthy Merlot. The butternut squash kale salad with the sweetness of the roasted squash, dried tart cherries and the earthy bitter notes of the kale was an amazing pairing with the wine, hitting every congruent note also found in the wine. Recipe + Butternut Squash and Kale Salad recipe below.

This is soooo f*cking young. And soooo f*cking good. A.

Perfect Pair: Gnocchi with Neapolitan Meat Ragu with Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Recipe The Pairing: Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 The Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon is meant to show all that is Mt. Veeder without overt tannins and the 2014 is a great example of that proposition. Black and red berry characters with hints of herb, Asian spice, espresso and toast combine with floral notes, weight and a wonderful finish. Blend: 90.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 8.5% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec.

Which new-release Napa Cabernet Sauvignons will tempt you this fall? Our online oenophiles weighed on their perfect autumn pour.

October is Global Merlot Month. This social media event brings together merlot lovers from across the world to celebrate this grape variety. To celebrate here on the Nittany Epicurean, my ongoing series of discovery of some of the great wines of California will take us to Napa for this excellent merlot: 2015 Merlot vinted & bottled by La Jota Vineyard Co. (Oakville, California). The wine showed a dark ruby almost opaque color. Blackberry, cassis, raspberry, vanilla, black cherry and oak all arrived on the deep nose. Black cherry, raspberry, blackberry, vanilla, cola, mossy earth and oak followed on a palate driven by luscious cherry notes. The wine exhibited excellent structure and length, along with moderate tannins. It would pair well with a classic preparation of Beef Stroganoff.

Merlot is Staging a Comeback This Merlot from La Jota Vineyard Co. offers intense, concentrated blackberry, plum, and mocha on the nose but then gives way to plush, tangy fruit and mouth-filling mountain structure.