The 2008 Peju Merlot offers inviting aromas of ripe blackberries, sweet currant, mocha, leather, dusty herbs and some hints of anise. The fruit is nicely concentrated with soft polished tannins that firm up on the finish where the blackberry and mocha flavors carry on and on. This is a flat out tasty merlot that should drink well over the next 5 years or so. The wine consists of 93% Merlot along with 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Zinfandel which were harvested from the Rutherford Estate and Persephone Ranch in Pope Valley prior to being aged 16 months in both French and American oak, partly new. (Best 2013-2018) - February, 2013 (JD)