From the negociant pan Into the FIRE tonight boys and girls and pulled my second Diam tonight and my second wine this month which had so much bottle funk I deemed it completely corked on initial. The last one was an 05 though so a bit more of a pass. This one just flat-out reeked to high heaven but it blew off, it totally blew off. Another light ruby, totally transparent, bottle-funk settled down into vegetal stem, way more fruit on this one, the eucalyptus actually enjoyable this time in its maraschino minty freshness and decadent moist peat. A little chemical bitter comes in dark and heavy in the nose and in the mouth, a Sweet-Tart Luxardo sandpaper patinas the throat alongside some still-fresh dog-poop lingering in the nose. 52% merlot and 14-9! and NOT a horrible wine. It’s not a great one either, but it’s not horrible. SOMEBODY reading this HAS this wine. I want to know if you have the initial overt bottle funk.

2015 KIRKLAND Meritage 52/40/3/3/2 ME/cab/PV/CF/bec Rutherford Napa Valley 14.9

kirklandwine.com