The pour is a deep ruby red, with simple light legs on a good swirl.
The nose is bright and led by red cherries and red raspberries. There are also mild undertones of dry tobacco leaf, red currant, and a little pine. There is also a little black pepper at the end of the sniffy-sniff (shout out to Gary Vaynerchuk...your DailyGrape and ThunderShow will be missed!). I like the complexity of the nose, and the addition of black pepper and dry tobacco really set this apart from every other merlot I've had.
The palate is bright and full-bodied. The forepalate is tart and sweet with flavors of plums and a little of that redcurrant from the nose. It is a touch dry for my tastes, especially on the midpalate which is dominated by tight tannins as opposed to fruit flavors. The late palate is really good: there is a little of the tobacco flavor from the nose, along with a long, velvety smokiness that I really like.
Rating: 89
Retail: $50
I think that this is slightly overpriced, but the brothers who started Silver Oak and Twomey have earned their stripes; the 2002 Merlot was much better than this in my opinion, but this is definitely the best Merlot I've had since then. That being said, I am not a Merlot kind-of-guy, so take this for what it's worth: if you have your heart set on the best Merlot out there, then buy Twomey...if you want a 90+ point wine, then don't buy Merlot. Cheers to a great Labor Day Weekend full of great wine!
