Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Pahlmeyer Merlot (Napa Valley) 2004

Wow! This is a very serious Merlot, which proves Napa can compete with Saint-Émilion and Pomerol when it wants to.

The huge bouquet perfumes the entire dining room with delicious aromas of plums, black currants, cocoa, mocha java, and cedar. The palate is intense, with deep dark fruit flavors and earthy coffee and tobacco notes. Complex and even a bit brooding (by California Merlot standards, at least). Drinkable now, but it should improve with short term cellaring. I’ve got two bottles left in my cellar and plan to ration them out in, say, 2010 and 2012. Grade: A-/A