At about four years, this Merlot, from the southerly Oak Knoll region of the valley, is overtly sweet, possibly from high alcohol. The official reading is 15.3%. There’s no doubting the wealth of cherry-cassis fruit and fine, vanilla-scented oak, but the sweetness is off-putting, and so is the heat on the finish.——S.H.(10/1/2007)—— 84