1995 Leonetti Merlot Columbia Valley

The dark ruby/purple-colored 1995 Merlot offers aromas reminiscent of a deep dish cherry pie dusted with Asian spices, grated vanilla bean, and then topped-off with a healthy scoop of coffee ice cream. This thick, silky-textured, and intensely sweet (from glycerin not sugar) wine is lively, tangy, and immensely pleasing. Layers of candied red fruits awash in toasted oak spices bathe the palate. This offering's long and oily finish does not reveal any of the dryness one would expect from oak tannins. Drink it over the next 5 years. I love drinking Leonetti's wines, especially when they are young. Figgins' offerings consistently qualify as some of the world's best drinking reds. They are candied oak bombs that satisfy my cravings for uninhibited pleasure. However, having tasted through a number of older releases, I do not believe these wines can be considered ageworthy. With time the explosive sultriness of the fruit and copious oak spices lose their exuberant youthful qualities. The wines, while still extremely pleasurable to drink, do taste more subtle, but this restraint makes them less interesting and fun. For example, when young the 1989 Cabernet Sauvignon Seven Hills Reserve was the sexiest, sultriest, and most hedonistically pleasurable Cabernet I had ever put to my lips. My score at the time was in the upper-90s, today, after time has tamed the wine, I rate it a 90 - still outstanding and pleasurable, but no longer mind-boggling. This is not a knock at Leonetti's wines. I believe the most important factor is how much pleasure a wine gives, not how long it gives it. Figgins wines tend to be superb the day they are purchased, so why defer your gratification? Tel. (509) 525-1428.