‘Stag’s Hollow 2003 Renaissance Merlot($27.90) demands respect right off the top. Because it has nearly 15% alcohol, you’d expect it to have a few spikes, but its just as round and pillowy as can be-more proof that Merlot is something we are really getting good at on B.C.’s sunnier slopes. It’s a blend of different Merlots from Stag’s Hollow estate vineyards as well as Harmony-One in the Similkameen. The fruit basket is in this stunning wine of great depth and richness: “blueberry, blackberry and plum” (don’t recall getting noticeable blueberry flavours in a Merlot before, but they’re certainly abundant here), as well as nuances of cocoa and spice’–back label commentators are getting good at the game of verbalizing elusive flavour components. When they say “three to five years”, I think they are being modest: there’s a decade’s worth of lovely life in this bottle.’