Plush and well-spiced, with sinewy power to the dried red currant, plum and raspberry flavors. Notes of slate and hot stone show on the chiseled finish. Drink now through 2022. 33,000 cases made. — KM

Blended of 94% Merlot, 3% Syrah, 2% Pinot Noir and 1% Malbec aged 17 months in 30% new French, American and Hungarian oak, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2016 Merlot opens with wonderfully plummy notes plus underlying baking spices, vanilla, kirsch, dusty soil and garrigue hints. The palate is medium-bodied, elegantly played and beautifully plush with bags of spicy black fruit and great length. 33,000 cases produced.