2012 2012 Pedestal

Probably the best vintage of this cuvée to date, and one of the top Merlots in Washington, the 2012 Pedestal, which includes 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot (aged 22 months in 85% new French oak), offers lots of minerality in its dark fruits, crushed herbs, licorice and crushed rock. Medium to full-bodied, with a great mid-palate and superb concentration, it has enough tannic structure to benefit from short-term cellaring, and have upward of two decades of overall longevity.

Red currant and darker berries complicated by graphite and licorice on the nose. Lush and seamless but with lovely inner-mouth lift and energy to its dark fruit and mineral flavors. This palate-staining Merlot will be a long ager. Finishes with big, tongue-coating tannins.