Jarvis Estate cave spotlight
The official Jarvis Estate channel introduces the Napa property: the 45,000-square-foot cave tunneled into the Vaca Mountains, where these estate wines are fermented and aged underground.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2018 Jarvis Estate Cave Fermented Merlot Napa Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $145.27 and the average is $187.53. Our slash is $145.00.
2018 Jarvis Estate Cave Fermented Merlot Napa Valley, USA
Cave-fermented Jarvis Merlot from the Vaca Mountains, dark cherry and chocolate after 21 months in new French oak, a 2018 you can open at one hundred forty-five dollars.
The 2018 is 100 percent estate Merlot: dark cherry, chocolate, graphite, and black tea, then a velvet close after 21 months in new French Haute Futaie oak, now $133.
Napa Merlot that actually saw the cave
Jarvis ferments underground. The 2018 Merlot is 100 percent estate fruit from hillside vines planted in 1986, 1,000 feet up in the Vaca Mountains. Twenty-one months in new French Haute Futaie oak. Unfined and unfiltered. 793 cases. Wine Enthusiast 93 for dark plum, maraschino, and cedar. Tastings.com 95. This is velvet Merlot with cave humidity still in the argument.
The house
William Jarvis tunneled a 45,000-square-foot cave into the Vaca Mountains so the entire winery could live underground. Fruit enters. Wine leaves.
The wine
100% Merlot. Harvest October 15 and 23, 2018. 14.3% ABV. Unfined and unfiltered after 21 months in new French oak.
The scores
Wine Enthusiast 93. Tastings.com / BTI 95.
The drinker
Decant 30 to 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Short ribs or duck with cherry.
Dark cherry, chocolate, then the velvet close
Jarvis's own 2018 note opens on dark cherry and chocolate, then earth, graphite, and black tea. The palate keeps the cherry, adds dark fruit, and finishes on cocoa with soft tannin and bright acid.
Jarvis called 2018 exceptional: moderate temperatures, slow even ripening. The Merlot was picked October 15 and 23, then given 21 months in new Haute Futaie oak so the vanillin could settle into chocolate instead of raw toast.
Dark cherry, chocolate, earth, graphite, black tea, a hint of cedar.
Velvet, 14.3% ABV, soft tannin, bright acid, 21 months new French oak.
Long cocoa. Decant 30 to 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Small lugs, cave tanks, then Haute Futaie oak
On the Jarvis sheet, estate grapes ride 30-pound lugs into the cave and do not see daylight again until the wine is ready. The 2018 Merlot fermented underground, then spent 21 months in 100 percent new French Haute Futaie oak at a steady 61 F. Unfined and unfiltered. The cave's waterfall holds humidity near 80 percent so the barrels do not steal the wine.
793 cases. 14.3% alcohol. Dark cherry first, then chocolate, then a graphite and black-tea close.
Decant 30 to 45 minutes. Short ribs, duck, or a roast bird with pan juices.
An American first: the whole winery underground
Jarvis was the first in this country to tunnel a cave large enough to hold the entire winemaking operation, four miles east of downtown Napa.
William Jarvis planned the parabolic chambers with geotechnic consultant Gregg Korbin. English mining machines cut the circular pattern so the lab sits a few hundred feet from the farthest gallery.
Hillside vineyards were planted in 1986 at about 1,000 feet. Founding winemaker Dimitri Tchelistcheff set the cave style. Estate wines now carry Winemaker Ted Henry's cellar.
The 2018 Merlot is that house in one bottle: estate fruit, cave fermentation, new French oak, released when the cave team says it is ready.
Braise, cherry, and a little fat
Velvet Merlot wants slow beef and duck with fruit. Chocolate in the wine, cherry on the plate.
Two plates. One merlot-braised short rib. One duck breast with cherry-port sauce. Both can take the cocoa and the velvet tannin.
Decant 30 to 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. The tannins are polite. Air is for perfume.
Merlot Braised Beef Short Ribs
A slow braise for dark cherry and chocolate. The classic landing for cave Merlot.
Why it works: Collagen and reduction soften tannin while cherry in the pot echoes cherry in the glass.
View Recipe for Merlot Braised Beef Short Ribs (opens in a new tab)
Duck Breast in Cherry Port Wine Sauce
Seared duck, cherry, and port. Cedar and chocolate in the 2018 have a plate.
Why it works: Duck fat meets velvet tannin. Cherry-port sauce locks onto the wine's dark-fruit core.
View Recipe for Duck Breast in Cherry Port Wine Sauce (opens in a new tab)Put cave Merlot in the cart
793 cases, Wine Enthusiast 93, Tastings.com 95, 21 months new French oak. One hundred forty-five dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is Jarvis Merlot with the cave still in the glass.
