A few weeks ago I posted on two extremely disappointing bottles of Donadei (Washington state) Cabernet, an 00 and an 01, both of which were purchased direct from the winery and respectively have bit/are biting the dust a bit too early. So yesterday when I discovered I still had an 01 Donadei merlot in the cellar, I yanked it immediately.
Forget all the usual suppositions about cabernet and merlot and the relative lasting qualities of either--where the cab is tanking, the merlot is shining bright. Perfect ripeness blends red and black fruits without verging into that scary blueberry place, and a solid core of red-dirt minerality gives it depth and lushness. The wine is big bodied without being extracted, and the oak has integrated well. I can see the connection between it and Bill Spohn's 94 Leonetti last week. Drinks beautifully out of the bottle but it will hold here for a long while, no hurry.
Marc D mentioned recently that the 2000 Cambon Pelouse, Haut Medoc is in a nice place right now, and so we opened that too when dinner with company turned into a game of hearts. And he's right--delicious black fruit, savory nuances, fairly dry after the merlot but nicely so. I would guess it has further improvement ahead of it--there was an empty spot on the midpalate (we didn't decant) that should fill out in a ripe year like 2000.
