Grand Cru Wine Merchants

The home property of the successful husband and wife team of winemaking guru Mark Herold and his graphic designer wife, Erika Gottl, Merus has produced a blockbuster 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. These cuvees are made from super-ripe fruit, spend 18-20 months in 100% new French oak (usually Taransaud), and are bottled without fining or filtration. A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot and Malbec, the full-bodied, dense 2004 offers notes of blackberries, blueberries, espresso roast, and smoky oak, a super-rich mouthfeel, good freshness and purity, and enough acidity and tannin to provide structure as well as definition. It will be delicious young, but should become more civilized in 4-5 years, and keep for two decades. -94pts WA