2015 Twomey Cellars Merlot Soda Canyon Ranch Vineyard Napa Valley 750 ml

The Fruits of Silver Oak’s Soda Canyon Ranch

Silver Oak’s founding family, the Duncans, have won global acclaim for setting the bar for lush California Cabernet, but few realize that for two decades at Twomey, they have done the same for Merlot. Harvested from the same Soda Canyon Vineyard that supplies much of their Silver Oak Cabernet, the 2015 Twomey Merlot is a picture of the ripe, supple, and deftly oaked style that has made Silver Oak such a crowd-pleaser. Since 2012, Twomey has retained world-renowned consulting winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet, the longtime winemaker at Château Petrus, the world’s standard-bearer for Merlot. Berrouet’s Right Bank touch is resulting in some of the finest Twomey Merlot ever. This is a fantastic offer for those who love what the Duncan family has done at Silver Oak and are intrigued by the influence of a Right Bank legend on a stellar Napa Merlot. Just $65 per bottle.

Longtime drinkers of Twomey Merlot may have noticed some changes over the last few vintages. The standard-setting Napa Valley Merlot is still grown at the Duncan family’s Soda Canyon property—a stone’s throw from the Stags Leap and Oak Knoll AVAs—best-known for producing Silver Oak’s world-famous Cabernet Sauvignon. It is still aged for over a year in French oak, one-third of it new, and still softened by the long, low-tech, and labor-intensive process known as soutirage. 

But in 2012, the Duncan family reunited longtime Twomey and Silver Oak winemaker Daniel Baron with consulting winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet, his former colleague at Établissement Jean-Pierre Moueix. Établissement Moueix is the Bordeaux outfit that owns, in addition to its prestigious French properties, Napa’s famed Dominus winery. But the most obvious reason that the Duncans chose Berrouet to apply his expertise to Twomey? His history as winemaker at the world’s Merlot standard-bearer Château Petrus—a tenure during which Berrouet made what  Christian Moueix called an “immeasurable” contribution. 

Berrouet’s subtle but significant changes show at Twomey. In 2015, he blended in Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in order to tame the Merlot fruit and bring forth some of the wine’s finer textural and structural components. He is also trimming production, a decision that is certainly leading to a rise in quality.

This is an auspicious time at Twomey, which is really hitting its stride under the guiding hand of Jean-Claude Berrouet. For anyone who loves what the Duncan family has done at Silver Oak— or for anyone intrigued by the influence of a Right Bank legend on a stellar Napa Merlot—this offer will be utter catnip. Don't delay.