(79.8% merlot, 11.8% cabernet franc and 8.4% cabernet sauvignon): Good bright ruby-red. Perfumed nose offers currant, cherry, cocoa powder, brown spices and rose petal. Concentrated, broad and perfumed, with lovely inner-mouth energy and lift. The slow-building, impressively long finish features serious structure and extremely suave tannins that are a bit more refined than those of the young 2010. A beautiful California merlot.

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Blankiet's 2009 Rive Droite Paradise Hills Vineyard is another rich, bombastic wine. There is plenty of depth in the glass as layers of dark fruit, tobacco, smoke, plums and cloves flesh out over time. Here, too, the French oak is a bit overpowering. The 2009 Rive Droite is outstanding, but in time it will be viewed as a transitional wine in the estate's history. The 2009 Rive Droite is 80% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029.

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