Two Jakes Merlot by Winemaker Clark Smith 4-Pack
Sold by: Winston Winery
$69.99 $140.00 50% off List Price
2011 Two Jakes Merlot, Lake County
I’m thinking we tasted this at D&D last year.
We did. I’ve had a bottle more recently as well. Notes coming.
That’s true. I sneaked a bottle under the table and poured you a sample. What did you think?
Many of you know me for my WineSmith wines, including the Cabernet Franc wooted last month from Diamond Ridge Vineyards, owned by Arizona cotton farmer Jake Stephens. In homage to his dad, Jacob Stephens II, Jake is launching the Two Jakes brand with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah.
Jake and his Dad spent years researching California potential vineyard sites in pursuit of the ideal site for quality and value for Bordeaux varieties. Eventually they discovered this unique holding in Lake County at the southeast corner of Clear Lake, combining volcanic soils, fog-free conditions and a lake effect moderating afternoon temperatures. The result has proven one of the great sites in all of California, yet still affordable.
For Merlot in particular, the constant UV gives amazing color and serious tannins while dispelling any hint of bell pepper pyrazines so common in downstream vineyards. The cool sunlight also creates intense grenadine aromas which are retained by virtue of the lake effect which cools the vineyard to 60F each afternoon around 3PM, preventing shrivel and raisiny flavors.
The decomposed granite soils also impart a mineral energy to the palate which gives lively vitality to the palate and also enhances longevity.
This wine is nothing like a typical California Merlot. It resembles more closely a classic Pomerol from Bordeaux – highly structured, dense in fruit with substantial ageing potential.
Well, I just grabbed two woots.
'nuff said?
Is there a suggested discography?
This is great! I haven’t had this one! I’m currently watching the youtube video you put up on this!
[youtube=DiU5QuEXmec][/youtube]
[MOD: embedded video]
Looking forward to those. Merlot from Clark sounds very tempting indeed. Even with 1.5 cases coming from the futures sale.
I have absolutely no space for this. 
In for one!! 
For those of you responding to the emailed heads-up about this offer, let me dispel some confusion I created, and offer good news. Suggested retail is only $30, not $40, and the offer is for four bottles, not three, at $69.99, i.e. $17.50 per bottle.
How, you might ask, can a decent wine sell for so little money? The answer is that wine prices are driven by real estate prices, which are in turn driven by fame of the region. Napa has undoubted advantages for certain varieties, but its best wines come from mountain vineyards resembling Lake County, the hidden gem of the North Coast, where land prices are 20% of those in Napa.
A Merlot of this quality grown in Napa or Sonoma would easily sell for twice the price.
I used to say on my site, “Yes, we have no Merlot.” In the bad old days, California Merlots were weak sisters of Cab Sauv for the faint of heart, the sort of wines Milo in Sideways disdained - soft wines without structure. But in areas like Pomerol and in Eastern Washington, Merlot excels over Cabernet Sauvignon in wines of solid structure, while still maintaining a firm roundness and lanolin lamb-fat femininity, in the sense of Janis Joplin or Judy Garland strength of character that men do not have.
I hope I don’t offend anybody in this description. You really have to actually uncork the wine and ponder such notions. Then feel free to shoot me in the head.
Hey Clark,
This is another that doesn’t ship to Michigan. Any chance I can contact you/Mr. Faulk for assistance?
No problem. Just PM me or call Mike if you have his number. We are grateful to Woot for bringing us all together and don’t want to tromp on their sales. However, for States they can’t service, Woot has been generous in allowing us to ship to States not listed in their offering.
So I totally bombed and missed on the Crucible in the wootoff any way I can get some of that too? But I’m in for 2 on these. BTW what’s the drinking window?
Speed to First Woot:
3m 5.775s
First Sucker:
rjquillin
Last Wooter to Woot:
morewine
that’s me with my amazon approved account 
Help me out, guys. I know the 2005 Crucible last 12 cases and the 2004 Faux Chablis last 16 cases are scheduled for a woot plus deal, so they will sell out in an hour or two, I think sometime today. I don’t know when it happens. If any of you see it hitting, please give a heads-up here.
The 2005 Crucible already went live earlier today during the woot off. Haven’t seen the '04 Faux yet.
As with many of my wines, the drinking window is very wide. This stuff drinks well right now, but is a trifle hard, and will doubtless improve for at least a decade in a decent cellar and plateau for at least ten years after that.
Right now it has amazing grenadine fruit, which will be traded fro development of tertiary aromas over time. I should thing the middle-aged optimum balance between fruit generosity and complexity might be expected in 8-10 years.
Wow! Awesome! I’m heading to bed, but I hope I get to nab some tomorrow!