Hourglass - Blueline Estate - Merlot 2017
- Producer Hourglass
-
Blend
7% Cabernet Sauvignon
6% Malbec
86% Merlot
1% Petit Verdot - Country USA
- Region California
- Appellation Napa Valley
- UPC N/A
Tasting notes
Lush and vivid, the Blueline Estate Merlot opens with pronounced aromas of
tangy dark cherry, raspberry compote and warm chestnut, with telltale notes of
mandarin orange peel and Asian five spice providing precision and lift. Across the
palate, the vibrant red fruit shines, accented by warm blackberry pie filling, roasted
nut and hoisin notes. While supple and gracious in texture, Blueline’s mineral-rich
soils add defined firmness to its structure and noticeable lift on the finish. The subtle
nuances of aromatics, flavor and texture give Blueline Merlot a uniquely wide
breadth of food pairing options from Mediterranean to Asian fare.
Estate
Hourglass Wine produced their first vintage in 1997 and for many years their entire production was from the single 4 acre Hourglass Vineyard just north of St. Helena. Today they own two vineyards – the original estate Hourglass Vineyard (purchased in 1975) and the Blueline Vineyard in the Calistoga sub appellation (purchased in 2006). Pairing the wisdom, skill and artistry of the winemaking team and the soul of the dramatic vineyards, Hourglass wines are modern and simply elegant. Their goal is to capture the essence of two of Napa Valley’s most expressive vineyard sites in bottled form.
Vineyard
Merlot is often planted on clay-based soils, yet there are none to be found at the
Blueline Estate. Instead, its soils are the gravelly remnants of ancient, upturned river
beds (the product of the two Blueline streams that formed them). These
mineral-rich soils drive the exotic aromatics, density of fruit concentration and lifted
tension in the wine and form the core DNA of this unique Merlot
