I have to admit, I miss the old bottles for Trius single vineyard wines. You know with the seemingly painted on label design (I believe they call it cartouche) – today we have the standard paper label to deal with and it just doesn’t seem right, it’s missing that certain elegance. Anyway, here we have Trius’ 2012 Merlot that has all the hallmarks of a hot vintage Merlot: blueberry, raspberry and chocolate on the nose while the palate shows cocoa, smoke and cassis along with plenty of tannin grit. This one needs a little while longer to mellow out, so if you have any of the ’11 Merlot you’ll want to drink those first. Price: $14.95 – Rating: *** ½+