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Anthony Gismondi on Wine
La Jota Vineyard Co. Howell Mountain Merlottext
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La Jota Vineyard Co. Howell Mountain Merlot 2014

Howell Mountain, Napa Valley, California, United StatesLa Jota Vineyard Co. has a long history that dates to 1898, when Frederick Hess founded the company in a remote, wind-swept hollow high on Howell Mountain. Winemaker Chris Carpenter is the man behind La Jota’s Howell Mountain wines, bringing some two decades of mountain winemaking experience with him. The blocks are nestled between forested areas, each bringing a distinctive story to the grapes and the wine. Power and elegance is the La Jota mandate and it has both in spades. The merlot is dense, and intense, with bright mulberry/blueberry fruit, excellent acidity, compelling lush tannins with dark chocolate and clove highlights. It’s spicy and persistently long and warm in the finish. The blend is 90/10 merlot/petit verdot that is cold-soaked for a more gentle extraction of colour, flavours and tannins, and fermented with native yeast in a mix of open and closed-top stainless-steel tanks before aging 19 months in oak. You could easily cellar this through 2025.Tasted: 06 March 2018Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:
MB$87.00750mlprivate wine shops
AB$95.00750mlConsignment - B&W Wines
BC$90.00750mlprivate wine shops
Producer: La Jota Vineyard Co.Distributors: Summit Fine Wines
Grape: Merlot