Franciscan Estate Napa Valley Merlot 2013

The Greenville Costco has Franciscan Estate Napa Valley Merlot 2013 on sale for $9.99. This is an incredible price for a quality Merlot that Costco usually sells for $16.99. The 2013 vintage Merlot has been available for well over a year and Costco must have scored a good price from the winery as they begin to market the 2014 vintage.

It has been almost 3 weeks since my last post on this blog. I was busy preparing for a presentation that I gave about finding good values in white wine. More importantly, the new wines I have tried recently were not especially interesting. Napa Valley Merlot for $9.99 fixed that problem.

Franciscan Estates Napa Valley Merlot is 97% Merlot and 3% Malbec with 13.5% alcohol. The grapes are from a Franciscan Estates vineyard in Oakville blended with grapes from the cooler regions of southern Napa Valley including Oak Knoll. The wine is aged for 18 months in small oak barrels.

This wine has rich dark fruit flavors accented by flavors of licorice and vanilla. There is some oak on the finish but it takes a back seat to the rich fruit flavor. This full bodied wine is truly a Merlot for Cabernet Sauvignon fans.

SC Wine Joe rating = 90 points

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