Mayacamas Merlot 2019
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Panel
Tasting -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Blended with a small 5% Cabernet Franc, this mountain red from the historic estate opens with inviting notes of mocha, cassis and sage. Seamless and supple, with lengthy additional fruit notes of blueberry and savory mushroom, it offers brilliant acidity and structure to last for decades. Enjoy best from 2029–2039.
-
Tasting Panel
How good a winery are you that most locals think of you before the 52-milelong mountain range you’re named for? Pretty darn good. Lovely purple flowers and dark fruit are framed by underlying power. Savory and sweet flavors of saddle, earth, chocolate, and blackberry make for a fabulous wine by an iconic producer.
-
Wine Spectator
Rich and elegantly structured, showing effusive raspberry and red currant flavors joined by coffee bean, spice and river stone accents that glide on the graceful finish.
Other Vintages
2020- Vinous
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James
Founded in 1889, Mayacamas stands as one of the most storied vineyard and winery operations in the history of American wine. Through its more than 125 years of production, Mayacamas has earned its place as a standard-bearer of traditional winemaking, and the source of some of California’s most iconic and longest-lived bottles.
Named for mountain range that divide the Napa and Sonoma valleys, the old stone winery was dug into the side of a dormant volcano crater in 1889 and has remained in production ever since. For generations, methods and tools have been passed from owner to owner, and the Mayacamas style has remained remarkably consistent.
As the newest owners in a lineage of pioneering caretakers spanning numerous generations, we faithfully steward Mayacamas towards a bright future, ever mindful of the great traditions of the past. Since 2013, our team has worked tirelessly to restore all aspects of the Mayacamas operation, ensuring continued success for this unique American story.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Centered at the peak for which it is named, Mount Veeder is Napa’s largest sub-AVA. But even though the entire appellation spreads over 16,000 acres, vineyards cover a mere 1,000. Scattered among Douglas firs and bristlecone pines, Mount Veeder vineyards extend south from the upper elevations of the Mayacamas Mountains—the highest point at 2,400 feet—to the border of the Carneros region. Less than 25 wineries produce wine from Mount Veeder fruit.
Winemaking began early in this appellation. In 1864, Captain Stelham Wing presented the first Mount Veeder wine to the Napa County Fair; it came from today’s Wing Canyon Vineyard. Prohibition, of course, halted winemaking and viticulture wasn’t revitalized until the founding of Mayacamas Vineyards in 1951 and Bernstein Vineyards in 1964.
The Bernstein Vineyards was actually home to the first Petit Verdot in California, planted in 1975. Today most of the Petit Verdot in Napa Valley originates from this vineyard.
Rocky volcanic clay and ancient seabed matter dominate Mount Veeder soils—perfect for Bordeaux varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot enjoy spectacular success. These varieties produce wines rich in brambly blackberry and black cherry fruit with herbal and floral aromatics. Structures are moderate to assertive and wines have great staying power.
Chardonnay from Mount Veeder is lush, full and balanced mineral and fresh citrus flavors.