Merlot Wine Club
Merlot Wine Lovers – Click Here
Source of the rare and precious Pomerol (and St. Emilion) in Bordeaux, along with a lot of nondescript soft reds from California and sometimes from Australia. Occasionally interesting as an Italian, from Tuscany, Friuli and elsewhere.
Merlot wine is much loved by many wine drinkers due to its rich, soft, berry profile which is richer and subtler than the harsher and more acidic profile of Cabernet Sauvignon with which is often found blended. Merlot wines are drinkable from early on but they can also be matured in the bottle for decades, this makes it an extremely popular wine club selection.
Merlot is grown all around the world and is known by several names such as Picard, Langon, Petit Merle, Vitraille, Crabutet Noir and Bigney. The designation Chilean Merlot however means that the wine contains Merlot grapes, Merlot and Carménère grapes or just Carménère grapes. This is due to the fact that some Chilean winemakers decided to have their vines identified after the Chilean debacle of miss identifying Sauvignoasse vines as Sauvignon Blanc wines. This brought to the fore the fact that many vineyards had actually been planted with Merlot vines, Carménère vines or a mixture of the two. The mistake was a fairly easy one to have been made as the vines, leaves and grapes are very similar however the taste and properties of the wines that the grapes produce are very different.
Merlot Noir has grown in popularity during the resurgence of red wine. This can be attributed due to the fact that it is bolder, softer, fruitier and mellower than Cabernet Sauvignon. Merlot has always been a sought after grape variety as it underpins many of Frances Bordeaux’s regions finest blends. Merlot dominates and forms a high percentage of the blends of the Pomerol and Saint-Emilion areas of the Gironde. The Californian Merlots have an incredible reputation, with good cause, as a varietal wine as well as for the audacious blends that they produce in the Bordeaux-style. Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa and Argentina are also producing some exceptional Merlots.
Merlot is now the red wine of choice in many places. Planting of the Merlot vine has increased significantly over the last few decades and even in France is in believed to have overtaken the Cabernet Sauvignon in acreage.
Although Merlot is often blended it has become a finest quality wine in its own right. It is a very versatile wine and can be paired with many different foods depending on the style of the wine. These pairings range all the way through from grilled/char grilled/roast meats to fish/shellfish and some of the more robust vegetables. It does however reach sublime perfection when one of the more Cabernet style Merlots is paired with lamb or beef dishes.
When being compared to other popular monthly wine clubs, Merlot often finds itself up against Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. The rivalry between the three wines is immense. In actuality they are three wines that can be placed on a distinct scale and each one can be appreciated for its individual qualities. Cabernet Sauvignon being the darkest, densest and most tannic grape on the scale, followed by the Merlot which is rich, soft with medium tannin content and lastly by Pinot Noir which is lighter and the least tannic. The Merlot grape itself is blue rather than black and grows in large loose bunches with large berries. Their skins are relatively thin and they have higher sugar content with lower tannin content. At harvest these grapes tend to steal the march on their closest rivals as they can be harvested earlier and therefore mature earlier.
An ideal Merlot would be a soft, rich, fruity deep red wine that does not contain the high tannin levels that Cabernet Sauvignon does. Merlot is an outstanding grape that produces a truly exquisite wine whether blended or not. It can be served as an enhancement to a particular dish or to be sipped at leisure.
Related posts:
