I tasted four separate Merlots from the great 2013 vintage for Bordeaux varieties. The 2013 Merlot Sonoma is their largest production cuvée of 11,500 cases. It is 98.5% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 27% new French oak. The wine is excellent, with notes of charcoal, chocolate, mocha, black cherries and plums, medium body, low acidity and soft, silky tannins. Drink it over the next 7-10 years.

I tasted four separate Merlots from the great 2013 vintage for Bordeaux varieties. The 2013 Merlot Sonoma is their largest production cuvée of 11,500 cases. It is 98.5% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 27% new French oak. The wine is excellent, with notes of charcoal, chocolate, mocha, black cherries and plums, medium body, low acidity and soft, silky tannins. Drink it over the next 7-10 years.

The red wines have been an ongoing process of improvement since Matanzas Creek was acquired by Kendall-Jackson. The 2012 Merlot from Sonoma, which comes from the estate vineyards in Jackson Park (legacy vineyards in the Alexander Mountain Estate), reveals crisp, tart acids, a dark ruby color, and white chocolate and berry fruit. It’s very good and represents a blend of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 30% new French oak.

The red wines have been an ongoing process of improvement since Matanzas Creek was acquired by Kendall-Jackson. The 2012 Merlot from Sonoma, which comes from the estate vineyards in Jackson Park (legacy vineyards in the Alexander Mountain Estate), reveals crisp, tart acids, a dark ruby color, and white chocolate and berry fruit. It’s very good and represents a blend of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 30% new French oak.

Perhaps the finest Merlot Matanzas Creek has produced since the 1990s, the 2010 Merlot displays an opaque ruby/purple color along with notes of mocha, white chocolate, black currant and black cherry fruit, and spicy oak in the background. This full-bodied, opulent, seductive Merlot possesses adequate acidity and velvety tannins. Consume it over the next decade. Matanzas Creek enjoyed great success in the early and mid-nineties, but then appeared to rest on their laurels, and was ultimately sold to the late Jess Jackson and his small boutique portfolio. It has taken the Jackson family a number of years to get this estate back on track, but I think that it can be safely said that with the currant and upcoming releases, Matanzas Creek has been resurrected impressively. The winery now produces four Sauvignon Blancs. The flagship wines of Matanzas Creek are bottled under a separate label called Journey. The wines are obviously made by the same winemaker, Marcia Monahan. Tel. (707) 528-6464