The 2017 Estate Merlot is fabulous. Rich, dense and exotically ripe, the 2017 might shock Ridge fans with its opulence. Time in bottle should help some of the baby fat drop off. Inky dark fruit, smoke, licorice, spice, chocolate and leather race out of the glass in an explosive, full throttle Merlot that hits all the right notes. What a wine. The Merlot Estate is sourced from one block on the Klein Ranch. The lower altitude and lower presence of limestone vis-à-vis some of the other ranches yield a Merlot that is decidedly opulent by Ridge standards.