Second Pour Alert… Another Wine Club Only Merlot at 50% OFF is for those who like a bit more structure with their red…in other words…if you like cabs, read on!

Oak Knoll’s cooler nights trade Yountville’s plush fruit for firm tannins and real backbone. If you prefer Cabernet over Merlot, this Oak Knoll District is geared for you. It was the buyer’s pick, when were split. 😊

Wine Spectator rated the 2021 vintage a 97-point “classic” for Napa Merlot. and Decanter’s own 2021 Napa report singled out Oak Knoll as one of the vintage’s standout regions.

Some of the best Merlot is coming out of here. Looking at you, Shifflet Ranch…

Markham has long set the gold standard for Merlot in Napa. And their District series releases represent the very best of the lineup.

This one’s 100% estate fruit from Little Cannon Vineyard in Oak Knoll.

Yes, we know what a certain 2004 movie did to Merlot’s reputation. It was so profound that Economists called it ‘The Sideways Effect’. Markham didn’t blink. Still doesn’t. And why would they??

Markham is one of Napa’s longest continually run wineries, and it has never stopped innovating. Jean Laurent founded the property in the 1800s. He built a stunning stone cellar waaaayyyy before it was cool and adopted oak cooperage when few in Napa were using it.

In the ’80s, Markham became the fourth winery in Napa to make Merlot, and it has set the bar for the variety ever since. Winemaker Kimberlee Nicholls has led the program since 2001.

Our thoughts….. Get the filet mignon or aged prime rib, cuz this wine got our buyers excited! 🥩

Deep garnet, dark cherry compote and crushed plum up front, dried orange peel and tobacco leaf underneath, toasted cedar and clove on the swirl. On the palate: red currant, dark plum and boysenberry, fine tannins building gradually into baking spice and vanilla bean, finishing long with notes of cedar spice and and firm tannins.

$68 SRP. $34 here.

92 Points, Decanter - ”This is the District Series Merlot from Oak Knoll, identifiable by a label with the vintage in the upper right corner above the winemaker’s name, Kimberlee Nichols. This estate-grown Merlot is sourced from Little Cannon Vineyard in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley and aged for 18 months in 53% new French oak. It is an elegant, smooth Merlot with plump, juicy cherry and raspberry fruit, tobacco nuances and fine cedarwood spices. Medium-bodied and framed by a lovely line of saline-mineral tension and fine-grained tannins, it finishes with a lingering, fruit-driven persistence.”