2002 Ravenswood, Merlot, Sonoma Valley, Sangiacomo

Dark garnet. Nose has red cherry and currents. The forward fruit is back cherry, with high acid on the middle palette, and a long fruit finish with additional flavors of pencil lead and licorice and soft tannins. This is a very unusual Merlot. It has big fruit flavors, but they are not the flavors you usually associate with Merlot. 258 cases produced. List price is $28.50. My rating is 86.