The 2019 Merlot Pedestal (75% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Malbec) is terrific, with a plump, round, medium to full-bodied style offering decadent Merlot red and black cherry fruit as well as notes of tobacco leaf, damp earth, and spicey aromas and flavors. It shows the cooler style of the vintage with its elegant, streamlined texture, is perfectly balanced, and will certainly keep for 10-15 years.

The 2019 Pedestal Merlot was made with 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Malbec. The nose opens with a firm backbone of fresh and ripe black plums and dark cherries before delightful oaky essences sway from the glass with notions of baked earth. Full-bodied, the palate offers a firm mouthfeel that lifts with time to reveal a succulent tannic edge and juicy flavors of spiced plums and blackberry skin with brown baking spices, vanilla and nutmeg that resonate with vibrancy and power. The wine continues to evolve and reveal elegant complexities before ending with a long spicy finish with delightful oak tones. Just under 32,000 bottles were filled after the wine rested for 22 months in all French oak, 86% new barrels.

The 2019 Merlot Pedestal is darkly alluring with dusty blue-toned florals, wild berries, lavender and just a hint of mocha. This flows across the palate like pure silk, elegant and refined, yet youthfully sleek, displaying floral-laced blue fruits. Its minerality comes through in the finish, mingling with fine tannins to warn the taster the 2019 will take a number of years to come fully into balance. This is such an incredibly pretty vintage of Pedestal. It's a blend of 75% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Malbec produced through a collaboration between Michele Roland and winemaker, Gilles Nicault.

Gutsy yet refined, this red balances a broad-shouldered structure with rich, multilayered flavors of blackberry and currant. Offers accents of licorice and espresso while building tension toward big yet balanced tannins. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. Drink now through 2030. — T.F.