theCompass mobile application is a winery, brewery, and distillery locator for North America.

This wine has a dark purple/ruby/ garnet color with loads of extract. As you swirl the wine, it holds to the glass for nearly a minute before tears slowly begin to fall. Powerful, soaring aromas of dark fruits, licorice, leather, Eucalyptus, Alder Springs terroir (what is it?), tobacco, spice and more! There is tons of sweet fruit, huge layers of glycerin, and smooth, silky tannins, and integrated acidity on the palate. The finish goes on for well over a minute. Drink this now and over the next twenty years.

In the glass this it has all the makings of a classic Oakville cab; An Inky ruby/purple color with room filling aromatics that include crème de cassis, tobacco leaf, licorice, smoky oak, and cedar. Once you’ve got your mouth on it, the flavors continue and expand into blackberries, red and black currants, with hints of earth, tobacco and mint. Full bodied and dense with firm acidity and mellowing tannins that will continue to integrate as time passes. It shows great structure and depth. Again this wine is young. It is just beginning to show its future potential, and the future is bright. I would recommend drinking it now and over the next 40 +years, it will be constantly evolving and improving. 165 cases produced.

This wine is full bodied with a dark ruby/ purple color and classic aromatic combination of black currants, tobacco leaf, cedar, and earth. It is firmly structured, concentrated and rich. In the mouth there are layers of dark fruits that just stick to your mouth, smooth integrated acidity and silky tannins. This wine is really beginning to drink well and it’s just going to get better and better over the next 5 years, by which point, I predict, it will be really hard to save some for the long haul. And this wine is built for the long haul, it will be amazing at 50, but will there be any left? Just 44 cases were produced.

This is my first varietal merlot from Alder Springs and I wish that I had so much more than 95 cases of it! As the label states, the first word that comes to mind when experiencing it is luscious! It is just exploding with aromas and sweet flavors of cherry, blueberry, and raspberry liqueur, black licorice, vanilla, cloves, and cola. It is a wine of huge proportions with amazing viscosity, low levels of acid and smooth silky tannins. It is drinking beautifully as we speak and will continue to evolve over the next ten years. This is a not a food wine, this is a wine to replace a meal!

This vintage is showing more of its stuff at a younger age than the 2001 did, but is just as powerful and age worthy as its predecessor. It is a wine of huge concentration; the aromas can almost resemble that of a dry vintage port, continuing with cherries, boysenberries, blackberries, cumin and smoke. It unfolds in layers on the palate, with explosive levels of thick, sweet cherry and blackberry fruit, smooth tannins and a firm level of acidity that seems to balance all the extreme characteristics of this wine. It was aged in 100% French oak for 40 months and bottled unfiltered. This is a big time Merlot that is really beginning to drink well and will be improving for many decades. $45/bottle

In the glass it displays a dark ruby/purple color. As it sits, the wine displays opulent aromas and flavors of ripe black cherries, raspberries, and currants. As you continue, notes of leather, red cedar, smoke, mint, and white pepper begin to emerge as well. It’s all tied together with a balanced acidity and smoothing tannins that mellow as it takes in air. This wine is just beginning to emerge from its shell; it will really benefit from another year or so of bottle age and should continue to improve for the next twenty. 95 cases produced.