Luna Vineyards Merlot Howell Mountain Napa Valley 2018

Don't call it a comeback, I been here for years

I'm rockin' my peers, puttin' suckers in fear

Makin' the tears rain down like a monsoon

Listen to the bass go boom — LL COOL J

Nope, don’t think it. PUT THIS MOUNTAIN MERLOT UP AGAINST ANY CABERNET, any Jason Samoa-sized heavy hitter, please please please, any Bordeaux, anything that you might equate with a sexy Napa Valley powerhouse-styled wine (Merlot or otherwise). FOR $50 OFF (!) – not even CLOSE to a “normal” price!! We are getting down to the last of the awesome Luna wines from our big purchase last year (we know how many of you covet these killer wines/deals) and this rockstar bottling is JUST hitting a window to even THINK about drinking. NOT FOR THE SHY!

Just outrageously good at this price. Rich, percolating and simmering with sweet berries and currants and compote and lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Candied violets, lavender…ah, so good. Beautiful, top-notch oak, too, with its sweet blacking spices, packed with cabernet-like power and depth, and mountain tannins that are just polishing up. This hails from the northernmost, highest corner of Howell, in the same neighborhood as 100 POINT, strictly allocated wines like DUNN and OUTPOST, this is merlot that will send your head spinning. WOW wow – we beg you to blind taste your geeky wine pals — bet no one says Merlot! Long and rich and spicy, with terrific freshness, too, that keeps you coming back – ALSO, it’s a wine that OPENS - the more you swirl and sip and whiff and such, the more sides it shows you. Wildly delicious. Anyway, the noble varietal of Bordeaux thrives on Howell Mountain and for the many of you who’ve had these Luna wines, you know how colossally overdelivering they are. Wow indeed. 

Quick backstory on our whopping, awesome Luna buy last year, for the newcomers: we bought a bunch of Luna at rock-bottom-crazy pricing, as it was closing up shop. Luna has been a staple of long-lived, serious wines since the early 90s when the legendary John Kongsgaard launched. The winery itself is now Burgess, which sadly was lost in the fires of 2020. We bought finished wines AND barrels, and we’ve been bottling the barreled wine over the last 9 months or so, but they are absolutely killer steals either way, of extremely high quality. Personal note – Luna always takes me into a time-traveling mode. I have fond memories of drinking Luna pinot grigio from a coffee cup as a busboy in Sacramento at the Italian place I worked (sorry, Steve, I know I was only 16 at the time, whoops..). I was hooked - loved it - in fact, it may have been the germ to get into this crazy biz!

WHILE IT LASTS!