2018 Margarita Vineyard Merlot - Broadside Wines

Plush dark plum, mint oil, blackberry puree. Raspberry filling, dark roast coffee, black licorice. Crushed blueberry, whipped black currant, and boysenberry pie pensively collide with gingerbread, tarragon, and smoke in an impressively seductive yet serious display. A sweet floral overlay of iris and blooming violet brings elegance and lift to the scene while notes of menthol, cinnamon, and toasted vanilla further augment aromatics. Impressions of anise and black peppercorn reveal a layer of intriguing spice that wafts above baking chocolate, clay loam, and crushed rock. Pretty and posh yet quite powerful on the palate; featuring both terrific restraint and excellent concentration expressed without an ounce of excess weight. Full bodied with heaps of crumbly melt-in-your-mouth tannin backed by nicely elevated acidity. This 2018 Margarita Vineyard Merlot by Broadside Wines is a wonderfully complex, well balanced, and approachable red from the Santa Margarita Ranch of Paso Robles.

Located in the southwestern corner of Paso Robles not far from the city of San Luis Obispo, the Santa Margarita Ranch is an intriguing sub-appellation with cooler days, greater average precipitation, and unique soils that are unlike what is found in the rest of the region. This bottling, crafted by Broadside Wines using 78% Merlot/22% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the Margarita Vineyard within the Santa Margarita Ranch, brilliantly showcases the distinct characteristics of this thoroughly interesting sub-appellation. While it contains no shortage of Paso Robles' typical ripeness and concentration this wine maintains a slightly more delicate and elegant profile than one might expect from some of Paso's more inland sites. It is impressively well balanced with velvety tannin and bright acidity; traits made all the more exciting when considering its unbelievably modest price tag. This is a near unrivaled value for a single vineyard wine of this caliber.