The Hightowers have racked up seven Platinums in the past four years, and three of their 11 career Platinums have been for Merlot. Historically, they’ve leaned on clone 15 fruit from their estate vineyard for the standalone bottlings of Merlot, which they first made in 2000. It’s fabulous and fun from start to finish in its theme of strawberry compote, cherry blossom and tanned leather, joined by thoughts of maple syrup on hotcakes, blueberry skin tannins and capped by white pepper. Qualifying award: Pacific Northwest (double gold)
Rating: Double Platinum • 96 points
Production: 287 cases
Alcohol: 14.4%
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