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1999

Merlot

Michael Black Vineyard,
Napa Valley

Deep red/purple color. The scents of black fruits and cherry mingle with anise on the nose. Flavors of black cherry, dark chocolate, black pepper, and graphite exude from a dense core just starting to reveal the full depth of the wine's character. This is a supple, voluptuous, harmonious wine filled with flavors that persist long after it is swallowed. Alcohol 14.5%.

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91 points
Wine Advocate

90 points
Wine Spectator

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Harvest Date October 13

Growing Season The cool summer months in the southeastern corner of Napa Valley were ideal conditions to develop intense flavors and complexity in the grapes. The warm Indian summer weather in October fully ripened the fruit to produce some of the best wines of the decade.

Winemaking

• Hand harvested grapes
• Fermented in an open-top stainless steel fermentors
• 5-day cold maceration, 21 days total maceration
• Fermentation with indigenous yeast
• 18-months in French oak barrels, 65% new
• Unblended, unfined, unfiltered; bottled April, 2001