The famed Stagecoach Vineyard, 1300 acres with a huge number of individual plots, is all very highly regarded, but this is all from the finest part of it, the M4 plot on Pritchard Hill.
Simply put, this is transcendent Napa mountain Merlot: rich yes, but with the sheer aristocratic class I normally associate with Oakville or Rutherford.
The winery says:
With an opaque depth of red ruby color, the Stagecoach merlot has a great overall balance of fruit, body, tannin and acidity. In the aroma there is the essence of dried cranberry, red raspberry and Santa Rosa plum. The fruit is integrated with aromatic cedar, coconut, coffee, black pepper with briary nuances of sage and herbal spices. Dark cherry and plum are the primary flavors with a very resolved pleasant tannin structure. The depth of fruit coupled with the richness of flavor, provides a profile that delivers from initial sip and continues on the palate for a long finish.
