2016 Coho Merlot Michael Black Vineyard Coombsville Napa Valley 750 ml

Wine Access members need no introduction to Coho. The overachieving reds from owner Gary Lipp and 100-point winemaker Phil Titus (of Chappellet fame) have sold out nearly every vintage five years running, and racked up some of the highest member ratings in the competitive “bold red” category. 

The stats aren’t lost on Gary, which is why he offered us something rare: his tiny-production Coombsville Merlot from the Michael Black Vineyard. 

Michael Black propagated his own totally unique Merlot clone in his namesake vineyard, an exceptionally rocky and low-yielding hillside site in Coombsville. Recognizing the rare combination of concentration and cool-climate complexity of these extraordinary grapes, Gary has locked in the entire production since 2004.

In the 2016 vintage that the Wine Advocate called “the best, most consistent Napa Valley vintage among a string of five great years,” he brought in some of the juiciest, boldest, most intense Merlot ever pulled off the property. 

This wine is a thundering ‘69 GTO with a velvet interior—dynamic power that will have Cabernet lovers pouring multiple glasses, delivered with a plushness one expects from heavyweights like Duckhorn or Pahlmeyer. The nose brims with black fruit and tantalizing spice, and the chocolate-covered dark plum on the palate melts away to reveal notes of mint, bay leaf, vanilla, and rocky earth. 

Gary leveraged his 30 years of industry experience at Paul Hobbs, Chalone, Robert Mondavi, and Chappellet—where he first met Phil Titus—to found Coho in 2002, and the winery has embodied pure Napa pedigree ever since. Phil assumed the winemaking helm in 2013, and began stewarding wines like this one to dense, fruit-laden fame.