Our take
Rutherford Hill Merlot California Red Wine
- Style
- Red wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Grape
- Merlot
- Region
- California
- Shelf barcode
- 0086891028927
Our take
What we make of this bottle
What a shelf seldom shows is how far back the winery behind a bottle goes. Rutherford Hill says its winery was established in 1972 and purchased by the Terlato family in 1996. We do not have a shopper rating for this wine.
Our grape research describes Merlot as a red that can carry a wine on its own or soften a Cabernet-led blend, ripening earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and often coming out rounder, with plum and other dark fruit and less forceful tannin than Cabernet in many examples. That same research adds that climate and blending can send it anywhere from fresh and medium-bodied to broad and rich, so where this California Merlot lands along that range is not something the evidence settles. In our September 2026 checks it was $35.99, its California origin confirmed.
Rutherford Hill's own product page for this 2022 vintage narrows that origin further: it lists the appellation as Napa Valley, made from 100 percent Merlot, tank fermented and given 14 months in new French oak, finishing at 15.1 percent alcohol. The winery says its estate vineyards run from high hilltops down to the Rutherford valley floor and into the hills of northern Napa, and that they are certified sustainable under California's Napa Green program. Wine Spectator scored the wine 93 points and named it the second of its Top 10 Wine Values of 2025, calling it, in the magazine's words, "supple and elegantly structured, with expressive flavors of red currant, tobacco and toasty spices that linger toward fine-grained tannins."
Our call: a reasonable pick for a shopper who wants a full accounting from the producer, a Napa Valley appellation, 100 percent Merlot, 14 months in new French oak, and a 93-point score from Wine Spectator that named it among the magazine's Top 10 Wine Values of 2025. Pass if you buy on the crowd's word; no shopper rating has reached our record, so a single critic's score and the producer's own account are carrying the case.
The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.
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Read our take →The prices we checked
Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.
- Kroger, Atlanta suburbs, GA$35.99
- Kroger, Knoxville, TN$40.99
The regular price can vary by store and date.
From the producer
Winery history
Rutherford Hill says the winery was established in 1972 and purchased by the Terlato family in 1996.
Research status
What we are still checking
Our overview above draws on the dated store feed, shopper ratings, our region and grape research, and any sourced producer facts. We are still working to confirm the current release, the full producer record, and the bottle itself, and we update this page as we learn more.
Getting to know California.
California on the label is useful provenance but weak detail about place. For these wines, sourcing disclosure, blend construction and house-style consistency carry more decision value than a generic climate paragraph.
What the name means
A state-level appellation, broader than an individual American Viticultural Area. It permits a multi-region blend and does not by itself identify one climate or soil.
How grapes grow here
The state spans cool maritime zones and hot inland valleys. A California designation alone does not reveal which conditions shaped the fruit.
What lies under the vines
At state scale, sourcing and house-style construction matter more than any single soil story.
How large the region is
- Reusable question
- Which counties or AVAs supplied the blend, and did that mix change by release?
Places within the region
- Resolution limit
- County, AVA and vineyard claims begin only when the release names them.
Getting to know Merlot.
Merlot is a red grape that can make a complete wine or soften a Cabernet-led blend. It generally ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and often has a rounder structure.
Category guide
What to expect in the glass
Regional guides describe plum and other red or dark fruit, with less forceful tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon in many examples. Climate and blending can make it fresh and medium-bodied or broader and richer.
Sources: New Zealand Winegrowers; Napa Valley Vintners. Checked Aug 10, 2026. See all 28 Merlot wines we cover →
Where this information comes from
- Store listing
- Price, package, product identifier. Checked Aug 10, 2026.
- Barcode
- The shelf barcode shown here is computed from the store product identifier. It has not been checked against a bottle.
- Method
- Every price, rating and fact here is a dated observation. How we check.