WINEMAKER'S NOTES:
The Spring Mountain Merlot is a very bright and fruit driven wine. The nose is bursting with black cherries and blueberry pie as well as cinnamon toast and caramel. There is some pleasant underpinning eucalyptus and gravel minerality. As always with this wine the mouth is full and rich. The tannins are present but soft as the lush viscosity coats them. The acidity is present but softer than previous years. There is a wonderful chocolate and cherry finish. This big fruit driven wine is drinking nicely in its youth but will develop some bottle bouquet over the next 8-9 years.
TASTING NOTES:
Spiced, blue-fruited character with dark licorice, anisette, bark and wet stones. Full-bodied, deep and juicy with plush, velvety tannins. Compact and even on the palate with a lingering finish. Better after 2025.
-James Suckling, 92 pts.
All Merlot from Spring Mountain, Barnett's 2021 Merlot delivers fascinating scents of mixed red and black cherries accented by hillside hints of sage and bay leaf. It's medium to full-bodied, expansive on the palate and yet reasonably structured for Napa Merlot, with a dusting of firm tannins on the long finish. It should drink well for at least a decade.
-Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 91 pts.
