“My boat is on the shore, And my bark is on the sea; But before I go, Tom Moore, Here’s a double health to thee,” Byron, 1817, St. 1, 2.
The kissing cousin of Cabernet Sauvignon and the presumed sibling of it, along with Cabernet Franc, Merlot is called the flesh on Cabernet’s bones by many while discussing the blending of the two grapes.
Sometimes, this grape can be transformed into intense and great wines such as the rich St. Emilions and Pomerols in France. Naturally, in the interest of making you gasp, I can’t resist telling you that Merlot makes up 99 percent of the composition of Chateau Petrus, the darling of world collectors and oil barons that sells for a practically stratospheric $1,000 per bottle.
Merlot’s global plantings of 640,000 acres are just behind Cabernet’s 650,000, and it is normally associated with the largest production in California.
Speaking of Merlot in California, I reflected briefly lately on a Merlot blending session that I attended more than 20 years ago at the Duckhorn Winery in Napa with Dan and Margaret Duckhorn and their winemaker. The contentious issue at stake was which percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon would need to be blended with the Duckhorns’ Merlot to achieve perfection and justify its price. The goal was to have the Cabernet provide a hint of backbone to the blend, and I was arguing for 15 percent, which I considered to border perfection. Their feisty winemaker dug in his heels and argued for a different blend. In the end, Dan decided to cast the deciding vote in my favor, much to the quiet, seething wrath of his winemaker.
I recently went shopping for Merlots at Consumer Outlet Beverage Center in Hales Corners. Its owner, Mike Praedel, runs what I consider to be one of the finest and most comprehensive shops in town, along with Discount Wine, Downer Wine, Sendik’s in Mequon and Waterford Wine on Brady Street. Within minutes, the ebullient Mike and I had snagged six promising candidates for my tasting.
Rather than the soft, velvety notes that I, and many people, have associated with Merlots, I found this flock to be markedly different. All had relatively common characteristics of being more racy. If they were on a wine tight rope, I would classify them as leaning toward wildly feral notes rather than soft and mild. All of these wines were serious contenders for the more adventurous palates in this country, and I wonder if they reflect stylistic changes in winemaking. As a group, I would heartily recommend them all.
Here are my tasting notes, using my normal “A”-“F” scale:
1. Avalon 2009, Napa Valley, $9.99: Dark ruby with medium body. Sporting a lightly spicy nose with some depth, it expressed a lightly fruity body with elegant fruit and a lightly spicy finish. A-
2. Rodney Strong 2007, Sonoma County, Regularly $11.99 – on sale for $9.99: Dark ruby color with medium-heavy body and a nose of spicy plums and fun depth. Nice fruity middle with a long finish. Nice! A
3. Francis Coppola, Diamond Collection, 2006 Blue Label, California-sourced, $12.99: Pleasing dark red. Heavy body with deep, berryish, almost broodingly hedonistic nose. In the mouth, it was softly deep, rich and racingly spicy. A potential star! A
4. Chateau St. Jean, 2007, California, $14.99: Purple-hued with medium body. Spicy, deep nose with loads of promise. Lightly jammy and complex with spicy notes of fine fruit in the mouth. Clean finish. My friend Dick Arrowood, who used to be winemaker here, would be proud indeed of his successor! A
5. Wild Horse, 2006, Paso Robles, $16.99: Pleasing purple with medium body. Spicy, racy nose of violets and cinnamon. Fruity middle with teasing dashes of fruit evolve into a clean finish. A
6. Raymond Reserve Selection, Napa Valley, 2006, $17.99: Dark, brooding color with heavy body. Deeply intense, spicy nose that calls for a rocking chair. Profoundly fruity, deep and complex in the mouth with a spicy, dancing finish. Great job, Walt Raymond! A+
Note: after I had bagged my wine selections for today, Mike couldn’t resist presenting a potential treat: a Wallace Brook Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley, Oregon, $7.99. In Italy, this same grape is usually called Pinot Grigio and produces a dry, lip-smackingly tight wine that goes beautifully with most food. This cousin from Oregon, one of my favorites, was pale yellow with medium body and an intriguingly spicy, deep nose. In the mouth, it was complex and nicely fruity, like an enlightened Chardonnay. Clean, long finish. Much richer and rounder than its Italian cousin. This wine is worth standing in line! A+
Today’s winner was Raymond’s Reserve Selection, followed closely by the Rodney Strong.
For both Price/Value and pure astonishment, I quickly chose the Wallace Brook Pinot Gris.
