2018 Reign Merlot Napa Valley 750 ml

Reign Merlot is one of those insider Napa treasures, the kind of tiny-production wines that change hands at intimate dinners with shared-secret smiles and “how can I get more?” follow-up texts. That’s because this velvety 2018 is an exceptional Napa bottling, capturing the keen balance of decadence and freshness that we look for in every Merlot.

Our introduction came courtesy of our friend, winemaker Tyson Rippey himself. “I love how complex it is,” he told us as he poured. “It has numerous layers that keep unfolding on the palate.” Sure enough, after we’d thoroughly relished its strawberry, violet, and espresso aromas, we found layer after layer of red and black fruit, graphite, and crème de cassis. Both plush and bold, the wine is put together beautifully, with the effortless poise of The National’s “All the Wine,” fruit revelry tempered by a ponderous depth of floral and spice notes. 

Reign deals in artisanal, small-lot wines, typically sold only from their winery. They made just 180 cases of this Merlot, and we only got a small slice thanks to our decade-long relationship with Tyson, and a little negotiating over dry-aged steaks.   

This velvety Merlot hails almost entirely from a single vineyard in Carneros, drawing its freshness and depth from the area’s hillsides. Carneros is “a standout” region for the variety, according to Wine Enthusiast. It’s become a hotspot for some of California’s top Merlot producers, including Duckhorn and Arietta, whose expressions stand among the nation’s best, and whose Carneros bottlings rarely go for less than $70. Reign’s 2018 draws its silky complexity from those same esteemed lands.

Tyson couldn’t reveal the exact vineyard source (which says something about its prestige), but the Rippey family has spent 25 years working alongside some of Napa’s elite names, and based on the sheer lushness in the glass, they’ve tapped into some exquisite terroir. 

The Rippey family has been a pillar in the Napa winemaking scene for four generations. At their Lodi Vintners and Carneros Vintners custom crush facilities, they’ve crafted wines alongside some of Napa’s most powerful names, making them extremely well-connected, with their fingers on the pulse of California’s best fruit sources. They took that experience and started Rippey Family Vineyards and, later, Tyson branched off with Reign. 

The 2018 vintage in Napa, which Wine Spectator called “near picture-perfect,” imbued this wine with its incredible depth of flavor and satiny tannins. 12 months in French oak only added to the complexity with intriguing notes of espresso and spice, all polished to a T.