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Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $14.90 $16.25
12 bottles: $14.60
Half open-bin, half tank fermentation with manual punchdowns once or twice a day. Nothing added or subtracted in the...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $102.35 $107.35
The 2016 Paramour is one of the best wines I have tasted from Blackbird. Dark, succulent and inviting, the 2016...
12 FREE
WA
94
VM
94
Red
750ml
Bottle: $38.80
12 bottles: $38.02
Zesty and spicy, with appealing raspberry, dried cherry and smoky cinnamon flavors that persist toward fine-grained...
12 FREE
WS
91
JD
90
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $20.95 $23.28
12 bottles: $18.24
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $133.00
Deep purple-black color. It struts an incredible array of polished, perfumed black and red fruits - Kirsch, black...
12 FREE
Red
375ml
Bottle: $42.04
12 bottles: $34.29
The 2016 Winemaker's Cuvée is medium to deep garnet-purple in color and scented of cassis, blackberries and...
12 FREE
WA
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $72.28 $76.08
12 bottles: $57.00
The iconic blend of Bordeaux varietals from our Mountain Estate comes from vineyards grown above 1,000 feet...
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $53.94
12 bottles: $52.86
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $33.78
12 bottles: $33.10
Floral, spicy aromas and bold well-articulated flavors accompany a firm, moderately tannic texture in this oaky but...
12 FREE
WE
91
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $59.93
Made up of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot, the 2016 Trinite Estate Acaibo has a medium to...
12 FREE
WA
93
WE
90
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $44.85
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $132.72
12 bottles: $130.07
12 FREE
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $246.12
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $273.06
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $241.75
The 2016 Proprietary Red Sugarloaf Mountain is a blend of 55% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Very...
WA
97
VM
96
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $139.21
The same blend as the straight Vertigo (52% Syrah, 30% Grenache, and 18% Mourvèdre), the 2016 Vertigo 22 offers a...
JD
98
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $136.86
Coming from Napa Valley, the 2016 Proprietary Red Wine is a blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 20% Cabernet...
WA
95
JD
95
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $656.80
The highlight in this range today, the 2016 Cariad is utterly magnificent. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot give the...
WA
100
VM
100
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $680.09
Another perfect wine is the 2016 IX Estate, which is made from 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot...
WA
100
JS
100
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $634.32
Super aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants and blueberries. Hints of fresh herbs and tobacco. Iron and ink....
VM
100
JS
100

Grappa Merlot Red Blend United States

Like so many of the great spirits of Europe, Grappa was born from a need to make resources go that little bit further, to eke out the last drop of flavor and potential from the crops of winemakers. Indeed, Italian vintners invented Grappa as a way to make use of the pomace - leftover grape skins, stems, pulp and seeds - which remained after the juice was extracted from the fruit needed to make wine. Over the centuries, the process was refined, and the distillation of Grappa became an art in itself. Today, top Grappa producers use a range of state of the art equipment, from continuous stills to pot stills, to manufacture a wide variety of Grappas, each with their own distinct characteristics.


Most of us know Grappa from our local Italian restaurants, where it is commonly served as a digestif. However, in the twenty first century, there is a high interest in unique, boutique Grappas, which showcase the talent of the distillers through a range of interesting qualities. Grappa can be aged in oak, in which case it takes on a beautiful golden color, quite different from the clear Grappas we are most familiar with. The high end Grappas are a world away from the harsh spirit many of us have encountered, and have a smooth, gentle quality which can be nothing short of a revelation.

With its dark blue colored fruits and high juice content, Merlot varietal grapes have long been a favorite of wine producers around the globe, with it being found in vineyards across Europe, the Americas and elsewhere in the New World. One of the distinguishing features of Merlot grapes is the fact that they have a relatively low tannin content and an exceptionally soft and fleshy character, meaning they are capable of producing incredibly rounded and mellow wines. This mellowness is balanced with plenty of flavor, however, and has made Merlot grapes the varietal of choice for softening other, more astringent and tannin-heavy wines, often resulting in truly exceptional produce. Merlot is regarded as one of the key 'Bordeaux' varietals for precisely this reason; when combined with the drier Cabernet Sauvignon, it is capable of blending beautifully to produce some of the finest wines available in the world.

Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.