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Uutiset
The 2016 Rive Droite Paradise Hills Vineyard, Blankiet's Merlot-based wine, is magnificent today. Merlot can be very quirky in its youth, especially when just bottled, but the Rive Droite is incredibly expressive, which provides a great opportunity to see its potential. Rich and boisterous in the glass, with tremendous textural resonance, the Rive Droite is gorgeous. Readers should plan on cellaring the 2016 for at least a handful of years. I don't see the 2016 ready to offer its best drinking any time soon."
98 points, Antonio Galloni (Vinous, Dec. 2018)
"The 2016 Rive Droite Paradise Hills Vineyard is blended of 95.5% Merlot and 4.5% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 19 months in French oak. It has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and gives up beautifully fragrant red rose, lilacs and damp soil notions with a core of warm plums, mulberries, spice cake and tobacco plus a waft of iron ore. Full, rich, opulent and oh-so-sexy, the palate exudes lovely warm black fruit and spice layers, finishing long and plushly textured. 308 cases produced."
97+ points, Lisa Perrotti-Brown (The Wine Advocate, Oct. 2018)
Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
Our true Bordeaux Right Bank wine. Merlot with a touch of Cabernet Franc. This wine is gorgeously fruit forward with a core of minerality.
Great wine comes from great grapes. We take extra care in preserving the flavors of the fruit during our winemaking process. Each pick is fermented separately in small custom made stainless steel tanks.
The underground aging caves are vibration free, cooled to 54 degrees and 95% humidity with constant air movement. Some of the wine evaporates allowing a metered amount of oxygen to penetrate the oak barrels. This controlled breathing is essential for the chemical transformation occurring during barrel maturation when tannins, alcohols, acids and esters further interact to create more complex aromas and flavors. A couple of years later the wine is bottled on location without any filtration or fining.
Paradise Hills Vineyard is located on the western foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains above Yountville in the cooler part of the Napa Valley. Grapes planted in this area take longer to mature on the vine allowing for riper tannins, darker pigmentation and deeply perfumed fruit. The vineyards are east and southeast facing, ideal for maximizing photosynthesis with intense morning sun and natural protection from the hot afternoon rays.
Wine Information
The 2016 ‘Rive Droite’ is made from predominately Merlot with a touch of Cabernet Franc and it is a total beauty that exudes striking class and refinement. It instantly begins to impress with its stunning aromatics of red and dark currants which are woven together with fresh spring florals, spices, licorice, herbs and tobacco to form the gorgeous perfumed nose. On the palate this is all about sheer elegance and structure, as the beautifully pure ripe dark fruits are wound tightly with beautifully polished tannins. It goes on to display incredible precision and balance with gorgeous underlying acidity adding a lovely sense of freshness as it leads up to the incredibly long finish. The 2016 will require some significant cellaring before it hits its stride, but that being said, it is one of the finest and most sophisticated Merlots being made in all of Napa, and it possesses all the characteristics to age gracefully for decades to come.
