Style: Full-body Red Vintage: 2019 ABV: 14.5%

Appellation: California Varietal: 55% Petit Sirah, 45% Zinfandel

Region: California County: United States

Here’s the setup… founder David Green has over 30 years of wine industry experience, developing brands and advising a diverse group of wineries, from 100 pt bastion Dana Estates to luxury producer Lede Family to value pioneer Joel Gott. His goal with Royal Prince Wines is to solve the puzzle of producing great California wines that overdeliver in accessibility, quality and price. To achieve his goal, he brought in rock star winemaker Maayan Koschitzky. Maayan is director of winemaking for Atelier Melka, yes that Philippe Melka. Chances are you had or at least heard of some of the many wines that Atelier Melka produces: Screaming Eagle, Dalle Vale, Vineyard 29, and of course Melka Estates, just to name a few. These are some of the most sought after and highest rated wines in the world. Maayan is the man behind those wines, with his hands on the fruit, in the vats, racking barrels, really making wine.

With their Royal Prince label, they are knocking it out of the park. Jeb Dunnuck wrote, “It tastes as though it costs three times the price. Hats off to winemaker Maayan Koschitzky for over-delivering on all these wines from Royal Prince.” And the Robb Report titled an article, “Why Royal Prince Is Making the Best Wines You Can Buy for Your Money Right Now.”

The Royal Prince wines sell in the $30-45 range, and are worth every penny and then some. But David and Maayan weren’t satisfied. So they called in some favors and sourced some ridiculous juice from old vines Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. Slick and sleek packaging and a ridiculous price and you have… yeah. A slam dunk. (Groans from the audience…)

55% Petit Sirah and 45% Zinfandel at a substantial but not overblown 14.8% alc. It’s lush, rich and juicy, loaded with brambly blackberry and raspberry fruit, along with a mountain of black cherry and hints of dark chocolate. Subtlety is not in the vocabulary here, folks. This is opulent and somewhat hedonistic. Okay… a lot hedonistic. And what’s wrong with that? Not a darn thing! Pair with bold foods, like baby back ribs, a luscious ribeye, chili… hmm…

Jeb Dunnuck: 91 Points

From the team at Royal Prince, the 2019 Red Wine (55% Petit Verdot and 45% Zinfandel) has loads of red and blue fruits, flowery incense, and spice aromas and flavors. Ripe, sexy, textured, and balanced, it's a no-brainer purchase.

Wine Advocate: 90 Points

Composed of 55% Petite Sirah and 45% Zinfandel, the 2019 Red Blend sports a deep garnet-purple color and flamboyant scents of blackberry preserves and black raspberries with hints of stewed plums, fragrant earth and hoisin. Full-bodied, the palate is chock-full of generous black fruit preserves, framed by a plush texture and seamless freshness, finishing long and spicy. A bold, beautiful red with a lot of character and that's just plain delicious, it's a fantastic value!

Meerlust Red Blend