WTN: Copain, Due Vigne, Merlo

Lovely tasting at Copain with two friends who are club members. Very personal service, and the view was amazing. It doesn;t hurt that the Copain house style fits my (our) preferences. I loved the Pinot Gris, the Chardonnay, and the Lone Tree Pinot. The only wine that was "meh" to me was the syrah, which just didn;t stand out (prefer Wind Gap Syrahs).

Lovely tasting at Due Vigne in the Clarksburg Old Sugar Mill. Even the basic Rosso "kitchen sink" blend was dry and savory...the house style definitely tends "Italian", with good tannins, nice dryness, a pleasant bitter note, and acids. They can do beautiful Sangiovese, a Chardonnay from 3,600 feet elevation that was tangy and delicious, and a delicious rich cassis-and-blackberry inflected 2012 Reserve Stag's Leap cabernet that was already singing!!! Really nice wines across the lineup!

Merlo 2005 Oak Knoll Cabernet. Deep, rich cherry fruit with very nice bottle bouquet developing. Delicious stuff! The winemaking is not as consistent as Due Vigne, but I loved this cab.

Todd Taylor. This was a very strange tasting. I have always liked their Napa Cabs quite a bit, and they nailed a Carneros Pinot with earthyness and cinammon! The two zinfandels I tried, though, almost tasted gritty with residual sugar! Frankly...the zins were awful! Schizophrenic wine making!!!!?