Substance Vineyard Collection Stoneridge Merlot 2016
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Merlot Stoneridge Vineyard Collection is cut from the same cloth yet has slightly more iron and bloody notes as well as ample spiced red and black fruits. Medium to full-bodied and balanced, with a terrific mix of sexy fruit and elegance, it’s another top-notch Merlot to enjoy over the coming 7-8 years.
-
James Suckling
An array of ripe red plums and some earthy, root-vegetable nuances on the nose that lead to a fleshy and composed palate with assertive, long and succulent tannins, which hold sleek and composed on the finish.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Merlot Stoneridge Vineyard is generous on the nose, with red plums, chocolate tones and red florals that waft from the glass. The medium to full-bodied palate is rich and structured, with delicious tension, delivering a pleasing complexity across the mid-palate. The wine lingers long on the finish, feeling a touch hot. 601 cases produced. Give it a try.
Rating: 92+
Other Vintages
2019-
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker
The original thought was to be a one wine brand, with a single minded vision to produce the best value-priced Cabernet Sauvignon in America. How do you go about this? Traditional winemaking. Natural fermentations. Barrel-aging. Plus, bottling unfiltered and unfined. In essence, making the wines in small batch winemaking integrity, but doing so on a larger scale. The wine is black. The label definitively says, "This is Cabernet Sauvignon." With the CS, you know who made this wine: Charles Smith. There is also the single vineyard, single expression, Bordeaux varietals (ex: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) produced in very limited quantities. Let's not to forget, the single vineyard Loire-style Substance Sauvignon Blanc. Wines of Substance illustrates Charles’ philosophy of producing exceptional wines to be enjoyed by everyone around the globe.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.