Frog's Leap Merlot 2022 (75cl, 13.1%)

Frog's Leap Merlot is an organically farmed red wine from Rutherford in Napa Valley, California, made from 100% Merlot. Frog's Leap has produced estate wines from its Rutherford property since 1981 and has bottled Merlot since 1990. The vines are dry farmed, with no irrigation, on clay-gravel soils, and only about ten percent of the estate acreage suits Merlot. Small portions of Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc may be blended as the vintage demands. The wine shows ripe plum, dark cherry, cocoa, damp earth, cedar, cigar box and spice on the nose. On the palate it is plush and generous, with red plum, black cherry, blueberry, mocha and delicate herbal notes, soft full texture and fine-grained tannins. The finish is medium-long, with toasted almonds, warm spice, lingering dark fruit and smoky earth.