Dry Creek Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley (Sonoma County, California) 2015

 Dry Creek Vineyard’s latest Meritage wine (a name Dave Stare was the first to use on California wine labels to indicate that the wine was a blend of Bordeaux vintages) will undoubtedly be rated as one of Dry Creek Vineyard’s finest wines, the 2015 Lytton Springs Meritage — a new wine made from grapes of four specific vineyard sites in the Lytton Springs district of Dry Creek Valley.  It is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 14% Petit Verdot, and 5% Cabernet Franc.  The Lytton Springs Meritage is balanced, with a velvety texture, aromas and flavors of blackberries, and with good acidity.  It is made for aging, but like all Dry Creek Vineyard wines, it can be enjoyed now.  Personally, I would hold on to it for several years.  It will even get better.  It can be compared in quality to a Classified Growth Bordeaux, and I believe that it can age for several decades.  It was aged for 20 months in French and Hungarian oak (45% new oak), and released in October, 2018.