Duckhorn 'Three Palms' Merlot

Expect a big, velvety & powerful wine, chock full of complexity.

The famed Three Palms Vineyard has yielded a fascinating and luxuriously full-bodied Merlot. Luxurious aromas of black plum, boysenberry, and dark chocolate leap from the glass, followed by hints of sweet molasses and vanilla bean. On the palate, firm tannins and undercurrents of energetic acidity add brightness and poise to lush dark berry flavors, while promising a long life ahead.

Although an intense and wonderfully expressive effort now whose polished, age-worthy tannins are countered by a wealth of extremely longlasting fruit, it has the all of the pieces in place to evolve famously and, when carefully cellared, is guaranteed to pay big dividends upon reaching its tenth anniversary.

Named for its three iconic palm trees, this warm, up-valley vineyard features lean soils that cause the vines to send their roots deep in search of nutrients, yielding a profoundly intense and age-worthy wine with complex fruit and mineral layers. As a testament to its status as the benchmark for New World Merlot, in 2017, Wine Spectator honored our 2014 Three Palms Vineyard Merlot as “Wine of the Year.”

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Blend: 89% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 0.5% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Malbec

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International Ratings:

95/100 James Suckling

94/100 Connoisseurs Guide

91/100 Wine Advocate

Suggested Decanting time: 2.5 hours

Cellaring Potential: Whilst can already be enjoyed now, this wine will continue to improve till 2035

Food Pairing ideas: A rather versatile wine that will perform at its best with red meats & earthy flavours. Our go-to would duck breast, Venison, Lamb or Beef. however, it can also work with roasted vegetables, mushroom risottos and truffles (oh yes, lovely with truffles)

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