2021 Melka Mekerra Vineyard
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The 2021 Mekerra Proprietary Red checks in as 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc and was raised in French oak barrels for 22 months. It’s a rich, concentrated, medium to full-bodied beauty that really shows the vintage with its pure, focused, bright style, which is balanced by rock-solid mid-palate density and a great finish. Black cherries, leafy herbs, graphite, crushed stone, and background oak all define the aromatics, and it's going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for two decades.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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Melka's 2021 Mekerra is a blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc from a high-elevation (2,500 feet above sea level), south-facing vineyard. The Merlot was fermented in concrete, the Franc in stainless steel, with both then going into mostly new barrels for 20-plus months. The combination of elevation and early picking (September 2nd to September 8th for the Merlot, September 14th for the Franc) has yielded a crisp wine marked by taut cherries and herbal shadings. It's just medium to full-bodied, framed by silky tannins that are accentuated by the tart acids on the long, mouthwatering finish.
The 2021 Proprietary Red Mekerra, Melka's Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend, is terrific. Deep, rich and voluptuous in the glass, the 2021 is a sensual beauty. Succulent red cherry, cinnamon, mocha, new leather and pomegranate flesh out, framed by the silkiest, most polished tannins imaginable, a rarity in Knights Valley. This is beautifully done.