title: Stonegate 1998 Merlot (Napa Valley)
description: Not bad for this vintage, which has ended up thinner than originally thought. The grapes had to struggle to ripen, and you can taste the tension between greenness and sweetness. Quite a bit of oak adds charred, smoky, vanilla notes and a glyceriny sweetness. This is elegant stuff; not a big wine, but it is very well made and its pedigree is obvious.
variety: Merlot