A joint effort of Mark Herold, a former research oenologist at Joseph Phelps, and Erika Gottl, has produced 230 cases of their first wine, the 1998 Merus. The wine is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine was made from fruit picked extremely ripe, aged largely in French new oak. It was slightly fined but not filtered. The 1998 (14.9% alcohol) is indeed an impressive wine from a much-maligned vintage. The color is intense ruby/purple. The nose offers up notes of creme de cassis and sweet black cherries, intermixed with nicely-infused toasty oak, mineral, and floral notes. The acidity seems low in this full-bodied, expressive, rich, multi-layered wine with a terrific texture and exceptional purity. This is a superb 1998, and certainly one of the finest wines of the vintage. It is also one heck of a debut wine from this small operation ... a California garage wine perhaps? Again, purity, symmetry, and intensity are hallmarks of this wine. (Release date 6/01) I suspect much of this tiny production will be sold via mailing list, so why not be one of the first in line?

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Dark, rich and dense, with layers of cedary currant, chocolate, black berry, mint, herb, sage and coffee, finishing with a long, complex, well-integrated aftertaste. 230 cases made.

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Very fruit forward. Sweet tannins, well integrated. Core of ripe, sweet red fuit, cherry, anise, cedar. Great mid-palate and nice finish. Not overly complex, but great, powerful flavors.