The Franciscan was originally established in 1973 and began producing it's wines in 1975. Today the Franciscan is owned by Constellation Brands (http://www.cbrands.com/home) and is still known in the world of wine for it's amazing Cabernet Sauvignon but as you will see in this case, also makes a heck of a Merlot as well. From the beginning the winery was graced with some pretty big names in wine such as Justin Meyer who is famous for the Silver Oak Winery and made the first Cabernet Sauvignon for the Franciscan. Another noteworthy person who the Franciscan owes a deep gratitude to is August Huneeus (the owner of Quintessa Winery) for developing their proprietary Bordeaux blend of Reds. You would think that after feeling this way about the winery that it would have always been a favorite or a go to wine for me but for some strange reason it was actually simply forgotten about by me. Many years later I re-discovered it when I was at Costco here in Las Vegas. Costco is one of those places that has a really nice wine selection and one that has at times some forgotten vintages and wines. On one particular trip they actually had the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon which I rated (http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-desert-wine-guy-2012-franciscan.html) extremely well at 96 points, the highest I have ever rated a wine. Having now re-discovered the winery I vowed never to forget about it again. Well, true to my word I have just completed a review of another Franciscan Estates wine, the 2012 Franciscan Napa Valley Merlot. How does this wine hold up in it's tradition of impressing me? Read on and find out.
This wine is being reviewed against the previous Franciscan Estates wine and is not in an envious position. This wine will be held to an even higher standard. Without any more delay let's get into this review. Opening your Palatte here is a wine that truly bathes your tongue with a dark delight. There are Cocoa notes abound on the initial mouth feel of this Merlot. Matching up rather incredabely might I add with this Cocoa is the fact that it is blended super nicely with the note of a not to overly sweet but deep, dark, fruit of ripe Blackberries. As these notes are entertaining your Palatte, super nice and definitely lively and not shy medium Taninns and Current really help to make this wine very pleasant on the entire Palatte. While this wine is sitting in my mouth it is being bathed in a complexity of the likes of which I can only begin to enjoy. To me it's as if I went into a chocolate factory and was appreciating the bouquet of my surroundings only through my Palatte. The Blackberry note was right on par as far as depth so as to not allow the chocolate to take a dominating hold and cancel out the Blackberry. Well folks this wine did not stop here thankfully because there are some other notes as well. I guess I don't have to tell you that I am pretty impressed here in the early going of the tasting of this Merlot. Moving on and tasting further now I came across a smooth but yet fairly noticeable and deep dark Cranberry note. Franciscan Estates has released a Merlot that is really impressive here folks. Here is a wine that I feel is a top shelf wine is selling for $25 that I feel the winery can get a lot more for. The mentioned note of cranberry seemed to come together expertly when blended with that note of Cocoa and is moved to change and adopt some of its own characteristics to become similar but not the same, as the very 
Cocoa that precedes it while still remaining able to stand on its own. What I enjoyed as well, and what truly added to this wine was that this wine was in a way smooth on the notes it should be but yet not too smooth on the notes that it should not be. This referenced smoothness was also not interfered with by any acidity or harsh or overdone notes of any kind. A wine like this can sometimes be ruined by harsh Tannins or a note of a sour Cranberry but that was not the case here.Though this wine was powerful where it need to be powerful and and smooth and sleek where it was required to be smooth and sleek. One thing I would like to add is that this is not one of those "mellow" Merlots. This particular Merlot is not meant for the weak of heart as I like to say so be warned. The wine is without a doubt more geared thanks to the power end of this wine for the person who learns more toward a Tannic Red and certainly more toward the fans of a richer, deeper and darker Merlot. This is more along the lines of a quality, medium bodied and semi complex Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a real Merlot in my opinion as I don't believe that the varietal must be wimpy or weak on deeper notes.. If you have ever heard the term "chewy" in reference to a wine, this is more along that line of Red. Don't allow the word "chewy" to scare you away as this wine is drinkable right now in my opinion but can also be placed in a cellar for a few years to come. One other thing that this wine has going for it is that this is also a very consistent wine all the way across the
tasting spectrum. There is no place this wine lacks fairly serious power or where it falls off on the Palatte. To
say that this is a full bodied Merlot is an understatement folks. This is a Merlot that crosses over to the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal
side and not just barely but does it fairly well and consistently. 
O.K, lets move on now and follow up with the review. On the sides of my Palatte I tasted a note of Cassis that bathed the sides of my tongue with it's presence totally (like to the max:) So far this wine has been opened for a total of 3 hours. Between helping The Desert Wine Girl Jr's with Homework and reviewing spelling words with them, attempting to read a popular wine magazine and write this review there has been a total of around 3 hours. This wine is still going strong and while it has not developed anymore (which is perfectly fine with me) aside from the note of a more developed Blackberry that seems to have gotten darker in its presentation without increasing its sweetness level. To me the wine establishes itself within its 1.5 hours of decanting but could have been extended to 3 hours this wine does not need to do or accomplish much more in my book. So, you think that I am done and ready to wrap this up huh? Well you are almost correct in that assumption but there is one more note to discuss. How would a really super note of Molasses strike you? Well, that is what I experienced. That note is present and is simply superb and also assists in providing the available sweetness (or as I came to think of it as) a fruit forwardness note I briefly mentioned earlier. This particular note of fruit forwardness does seem to be a result of the Molasses and it is something to be expected. Because the Molasses note is present it does provide that medium level of sweetness but in the Mollasses form. Did I mention that the Molasses note is spectacular? Forgive me if I neglected to mention that little bit of information , please do forgive me as it is a terrible important item here and a note that is of ultra importance to the outcome of this wine and this review. There is a big difference I believe in the taste of a simple sugar and the taste (or note) of Molasses. To me a note of sugar can make a wine fruit forward enough to destroy it or create a sugar bomb (see my review)(http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-desert-wine-guy-keep-your-sugar-out.html) which I am certain we have all experienced before at some time or another. A nice Molasses note is on the sweet side but disguises that sweetness as Molasses which in a Red wine is surely more than acceptable in my book.
The Desert Wine Guy
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