2013 Hanaiali'i Merlot

I. like my mother, son and some of my siblings have been struggling with vertigo, (balance, room is spinning issues), so one of the first things I dropped was wine, (alcohol of any sort).

After 8 weeks and monitoring my vitals, it appears the dizzy spells are related to a drop in blood pressure, not the occasional bottle of wine. Kathy and I decided it would be nice to purchase a bottle, it has been a while. We were at the Long's Drugstore, (Lihue), and we saw this bottle. It is a Napa valley Merlot with a Hawaiian motif and description and it was the only one they had. How could we pass it up?

Oh my, my, my, this is incredible. At first taste it smells and tastes like a much older vintage. I would have guessed 7 years in a wine storage facility where they rotate the bottles monthly/quarterly as the vintner would suggest.

The alcohol content was 15.1% so we took it slowly, the pour was for the entire night. I also whipped up some quinoa/cheddar crackers so our tummies would have some reinforcements as supper was absorbed.

It costs a smidge more than what I usually spend, but we are going to Long's, (Kapaa), tomorrow. We will look for it there. If we find it, we will buy a bottle to share with some friends on the island. Nope, that may be the only time we ever get to enjoy that one.