description: The best things about this Merlot are its extreme dryness, tannin integrity and relative austerity. It's a pleasure to drink a Merlot that's not a fruit bomb. That doesn't mean you won't find complex flavors of blackberries and currants. You will. It means that this extraordinary Merlot is pushing the envelope on what California, and Napa Valley in particular, is able to achieve in making Merlot along classically structured lines.