2018 Earl 17 Merlot

Hibiscus, cherrywood and peppercorn are first to emerge from the glass, followed by a fascinating smokey plum sauce, all edged by cool, fresh-cut herbs. Sanguine flavors of pomegranate, rhubarb, and iron carry over a distinctly mineral undercurrent, so often typical of Merlot. A serious personality from the start, the 2018 Merlot is simultaneously structured but yielding, giving way to soft, fuzzy tannins that play against a taught, fine acid, reflective of the ideally cool 2018 growing season