For over
five decades Jed Steele has been going about his business rather quietly. “My goal
was never to be a huge winery,” he says. “We bottle a lot of different
varietals under four unique brands, but most of our wines are made in lots of
fewer than 1,000 cases. This reflects my fascination with many diverse
varietals and vineyard sites. And staying small means we can practice true craftsmanship
in the production of all of our wines.” Which brings me to his 2017 Merlot: Great
acidity and surprisingly taught tannins, this also offers blueberry,
blackberry, black cherry, and boysenberry notes along with back notes of black
tea, earthy smoke and light herbal touches. There are also notes of light sweet
vanilla. Aged 14 months in a combo of French and American oak this also shows
that really good, balanced flavorful wines can be made for very little money.
If you’re not familiar with his wines, I really hope you’ll seek them out.
ORIGIN: Lake County,
California
ALCOHOL: 14.5%
PRICE: $20 (750ML)
SCORE: 90 POINTS
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