2012 Melka Metisse Montbleau
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2012 Metisse Jumping Goat wraps around the palate with gorgeous depth and plenty of vintage 2012 resonance. Dark red cherry, plum, spices and new leather meld into the voluptuous finish in a wine that marries opulence with energy. This is a classic Philippe Melka wine built on texture. Effortless, seamless and flat-out delicious, the 2012 hits all the right notes.
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Melka makes a proprietary red wine from Jumping Goat Vineyard in St. Helena. He’s made this for a number of years and the 2012 Proprietary Red Jumping Goat, a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 16% Petit Verdot, is superb. The color is more opaque and the wine is denser and richer with more blackberry and cassis fruit intermixed with camphor and incense. With good purity, a full-bodied mouthfeel, sweet, integrated tannin and enough acidity to provide focus, this is a fabulous example of Napa viticulture. Drink 2016-2032.
(70% cabernet sauvignon, 20% merlot and 10% petit verdot): Bright ruby-red. Almost port-like in its ripeness, yet more vibrant on the nose than the 2011, offering scents of blueberry, boysenberry, kirsch, bitter chocolate and graphite. Sweet, dense and deep, with ripe, harmonious acidity giving shape and lift to the highly concentrated dark berry and mineral flavors. Finishes very long, with suave tannins and lovely lingering sweetness. When I mentioned that some winemakers are comparing their 2012s to the 2002s, Philippe Melka named 2007 instead, noting that the 2002s were more exuberant than the new vintage. Offers superb potential.