2000 Paoletti Merlot

Paoletti Vineyards is owned by Gianni Paoletti, who moved to Los Angeles from his native Italy as a young man to work as a chef. Born in Venice, he trained as a chef before taking cooking jobs in England and Germany. By 1964 he was cooking in Hollywood and in 1972 he opened his first Los Angeles restaurant. His second is the famous Peppone in Brentwood. Also in the 1970s he started traveling to Napa because of his interest in wine, and in 1989 he bought the first few acres of what is now a 36-acre property. The debut release was in 1994. Gianni and his wife Lilia commute between Los Angeles and Napa, and they make primarily reds, including some that are unusual for Napa, such as Nero d’Avola. A flagship wine is La Forza, a blend of mostly Sangiovese with usually about 15% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,

The Merlot grape is such a deep blue that it is named for the blackbird. It’s an early ripening grape and one of the primary varietals used In Bordeaux. Merlot is also grown in the "International style," which is harvested later to bring out more tannins and body.