Lot 107 2005 Napa County Meritage
Price: $15.00
- Vintage: 2005
- Appellation: Napa County
- Alcohol by volume: 14.5%
- Production: 582 cases
- Release date: July 30, 2009
- Drink/Hold: Now and through 2020—no reason to wait , quite frankly
Taste: Crème de Cassis, ripe plums, and blackberry notes on the nose are echoed on the mid-palate. Super-fine tannins round out this beautifully balanced wine. The oak is well integrated, framing the fruit flavors and not overpowering the blend. Fantastic round mouthfeel demonstrates perfectly why Cabernet Franc is the go-to blender for Napa Valley Cabernet.
Cameron Confidential: "Got it from a guy who got it from a guy." I have a contact who simply does a great job sourcing really high-end wine. He has done many wines for us in the past, always with stellar results—the wine I taste is always the wine I get. This particular wine hails from the eastern edges of Napa County, so officially it does not fall into the Napa Valley appellation. No bother. This wine is Cabernet Franc at its best—beautifully oaked with fantastic mouthfeel. In fact, one of the greatest things about Cabernet Franc is its ability to carry new oak beautifully. Now, I am not sure of who actually made this wine (my contact always maintains secrecy to protect his interests), but I am certain that at least 50% of this wine was made in new French oak (and really nice French oak at that!). If you didn't know, there is a tremendous difference in barrels and the effect they have on the wine, not just between French, American, Hungarian, or Portuguese oak but even within the forests of each country. For an example, compare Lot 128 and Lot 129 from Campo de Borja in Spain: The same wine aged in barrels of different French oak barrel makers produces startlingly different finished wines. I myself was amazed to find that both started out as the same wine.
Staff Picks
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Steve
Lots of Dark Fruit here. If you liked Lot 103, you'll dig this one too.
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