Folie à Deux Napa Valley Merlot 2007

A deep, rich, sophisticated wine, the 2007 Folie à Deux Napa Valley Merlot remains true to its namesake. It creates “a beautiful dance of flavors and true varietal expression,” which easily translate into a shared fantasy among serious red wine drinkers. Even the dyed in the wool Cabernet fans on the tasting panel bestowed accolades upon Folie à Deux’s 2007 Merlot (a blend of 89% Merlot and 11 % Cabernet Sauvignon) and unabashedly asked for another glass. Sporting a deep ruby robe, a heady aroma of blueberry, cassis, and cocoa this Merlot scores high on all counts. In the mouth a juicy mélange of berry fruit mingles with hints of dark chocolate, tobacco, and refined new oak. Plush, smooth, and full of flavor, the 2007 Folie à Deux captures the charm and panache of authentic Napa Valley Merlot, as it puts to shame the legion of leafy, insipid Merlots for which California has become infamous. Enjoy this charming, textured Merlot at cool room temperature (66º F), with or without breathing time.

The 2007 Folie à Deux Napa Valley Merlot is in the best sense one of those go anywhere, drink anytime kind of wines. It provides fine drinking on its own and is majestic with food, even hearty beef or lamb dishes. The lush fruit, smooth texture, and soft tannins of the 2007 Folie à Deux Merlot are indeed a force to be reckoned with; they are perfect with beef stew, sirloin steaks, lamb kebobs, barbecue and herb roasted chickens, and grilled vegetables. So, light up the grill, bring on the food, and have a party! No fancy recipes are required, but we can assure you those complex sauces and fine accompaniments will not be wasted on this exceptional Merlot either. Just remember to have a second or third bottle on hand if you invite someone over; shared fantasies don’t last long when glasses are empty.

Folie à Deux, a boutique Napa Valley estate dedicated to crafting fine wine at affordable prices, continues to turn out outstanding Napa Valley Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zinfandel. This historic property lies just north of St. Helena in the heart of Napa Valley. Folie à Deux’s vineyards and century old farmhouse lay sandwiched between Spring Mountain and Howell Mountain, at the narrowest part of Napa Valley. The estate’s location provides a unique microclimate and a special terroir, which permit cool air to roll slowly down Mount St. Helena and cool the estate vineyard during the long summer days of torrid heat. At Folie à Deux, unlike many other Napa locales, the cool air sifts its way through the vineyard the way sand passes through an hourglass. The result is great physiological ripeness in the vineyard, without a loss of aromatic or flavor profile. Folie à Deux has blossomed since coming under the Trinchero family umbrella in 2004. Under Bob Trinchero, the proprietor of several renowned California wineries, the quality at Folie à Deux has skyrocketed. However, the tale of Folie à Deux is both intriguing and unique, as the winery’s name suggests. Folie à Deux was founded as a bonded winery in 1981 by two psychiatric professionals. When the couple told friends that they planned to fulfill a mutual dream by starting a winery, the friends jokingly suggested that the couple was exhibiting the classic symptoms of Folie à Deux, a psychiatric term that is defined as the sharing of fantasies by two close friends. The name stuck. To build on the theme, a local Napa Valley artist, Susan Ortega, created a drawing of twin dancers based on a Rorschach inkblot. Her inspiration for the label was the fantasy that she and her sister shared of one day becoming professional ballerinas.