A nice afternoon of wine tasting with Korbin Ming of Korbin Kameron Vineyards and Moonridge Vineyards at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  I have had the good fortune to have tried and bought some wines from Korbin Kameron in the past, but this by far was the biggest tasting that I have had.  They were pouring and offering wines that were both current and from their Library, as there was a vertical tasting of four Merlot wines, and a vertical tasting of five Cabernet Sauvignon wines. 

We started the red wines with a selection of their Merlot wines.  The years of the vertical run of the Korbin Kameron Merlot, Moon Mountain District AVA was 2007, 2009 2011 and 2015.  The Moon Mountain AVA is a very new subregion of the Sonoma Valley, as it was only awarded status in 2013.  The wines were all aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which half was new.  Production of the wine averaged around three-hundred cases each year and easily ten plus years of cellaring would be wonderful.  I am and have always been partial to Merlot wines since my teens, and these were some of the best Merlot wines that I have had with a nose of red fruits and spice, with a taste of lush cherries and they all had a charming silky tannin finish.  At first, I thought maybe there was something wrong with me, as everyone was gushing about the 2015, but I just wrapped my arms around the 2007 as I thought it delivered the biggest bang of flavors and sensory temptations.   The finish on the 2007 just would not end, and I am glad that I nursed it, before going on to the newer vintages. 

After all of the lovely Merlot wines, I had to have some hefty swigs of water before I went with the Cabs.  Once again there was a vertical run of the Korbin Kameron Cabernet Sauvignon, Moon Mountain District AVA and we tasted the 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2015 vintages.  These wines, just like the Merlot wines were aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which half were new.  There was an average production of about six-hundred cases of each vintage.  This was a big wine, a big bold Cabernet Sauvignon.  They were all impeccable with a nose promising dark fruits and spices, black cherry took center stage on the taste and big tannins to finish with, and I really did not expect anything less.  They were well made wines and my tasting notes hardly had any variations, but once again, the crowd around me, were going for the newest vintage and I was enraptured by the 2006, as I thought the taste was more rounded.  Perhaps I am just enjoying my wines a bit more mellow, or maybe I am mellowing, but I am sure that you can guess what I was leaving home with.