2017 Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot 750 ml

Napa Valley’s iconic mountain-grown Merlot. 

Say those words to any California wine collector, and we’d bet their mind goes exactly where ours does: Pride Mountain. The name alone evokes the opaque core, the brooding black fruit, and the fine-grained tannins that have made Pride the platonic ideal for high-altitude, densely-packed, age-worthy Merlot. 

Thanks to our Master Sommelier Sur Lucero’s personal connection to Pride Mountain Vineyards, we’ve got our first-ever allocation of their marquee Merlot—and the 2017 is a one-bottle argument for why Pride has set the bar for decades. Opening with aromas of deep, dark fruit warmed with tones of sandalwood and pipe tobacco, it’s dense and round on the palate, with a tannic structure that’s both soft and defined—built for immediate pleasure, or a stretch in the cellar. 

This is it: the Merlot that stands tall on steakhouse tables all across the country, and should be a cellar staple for any lover of red wine. We’re proud to bring it to you today, straight from Spring Mountain. 

Back when Jim and Carolyn Pride founded Pride Mountain Vineyards, you’d hardly see a sign of humanity on the drive to their property at the top of Spring Mountain. These days, it’s not too different. A few wineries have popped up on Spring Mountain Road in the last three decades, but Pride still feels about as far-flung as it did in 1989. 

Just a few years after their first vintage, Pride was racking up 98- and 99-point scores from Robert Parker, who said “these wines catapult Pride Mountain into the top echelon of California's quality wineries.” Now Pride—which has come to stand for Napa Valley mountain reds in all their dark, intense, and age-worthy glory—has become a regular on magazine covers and Top 100 lists.

It’s not just the solitude that makes this 235-acre, 2100’ site special, nor is it the view, which beats just about any other in Northern California. It’s the conditions, some of which are special to mountain sites, and some that are unique to Pride. Like the best high-altitude sites, Pride sits above the fog line. That means daylong sunshine and cool mountain air, which combine to make for slow, steady, ideal ripening.

Unlike most mountainside sites, which commonly have thin, poor soils, Pride’s mountaintop location has a range of soil types, and topsoil that can reach 30 feet in places. And as the family has gotten to know their terroir over the years, they’ve replanted, moving different grape varieties to where they thrive the most. The Merlot now grows on the north- and east-facing slopes on the Napa side of the property (which straddles Napa and Sonoma Counties), where the vines get the gentler sun they prefer. 

The result, in 2017, is a perfectly ripened Merlot blockbuster that shows why Pride Mountain Merlot is always at the top. It’s a gorgeous taste of one of Napa Valley’s legendary terroirs, and the latest edition of a Merlot that Wine Access members have been clamoring for for years. Whether this is a longtime wish come true or you’re new to Pride’s unique brand of mountain wine, we’re thrilled to bring this Merlot to you.