Hawkstone Merlot Red Wine

Hawkstone says its wines are made with grapes grown in Napa County, California. For now that producer account is the only information we have on where the wine comes from. Merlot itself is a red grape that can carry a wine on its own or soften one led by Cabernet Sauvignon, and it usually ripens earlier than Cabernet, with what regional guides describe as a rounder, gentler build.

Regional guides describe plum and other dark fruit in Merlot, with tannin that grips less firmly than Cabernet's, though climate and the blend can pull it toward the fresher, medium-bodied side or the richer end. In our September 2026 checks it sold for $22.99 to $30.88. We do not have a shopper rating for this wine.

A closer look at Hawkstone's own paperwork adds detail the winery's current site does not carry: hawkstonevineyards.com's live product list no longer shows a Merlot, but a Hawkstone branded sell sheet, copyrighted to WinePress Vintners of Sonoma and Graton, California, confirms this Napa Valley Merlot as a real, distinct bottling in the producer's Connoisseur Series, finishing at 13.5 percent alcohol with a suggested retail price of $18.99. That sheet names WinePress Vintners as the producer; our own record has separately named WX Brands as the wine's owner, and the two accounts have not been reconciled. The producer's own tasting note describes 'tones of creamy chocolate, vanilla and toasted oak spice' and 'a long smooth finish,' and credits winemaker Matt Shuplock, who trained in fermentation science at the University of California, Davis before nearly two decades in the wine trade.

From one store to the next, that price barely moved. Hawkstone says it is owned by WX Brands.

Our call: this suits a shopper who wants Napa Valley Merlot with real tech sheet backing, even though the maker's own current website has quietly dropped the page; the sell sheet documents alcohol, price and a named winemaker's training in enough detail to trust the bottle's origin. Pass if a clean ownership trail matters to you: our record shows both a producer, WinePress Vintners, and a stated owner, WX Brands, for this label, and we have not reconciled the two.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.