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Merlot Wine Tasting Notes
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Menage a Trois Red California, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon $9 Score: 90.0 This full-bodied red blend serves up rich blueberry jam fruit with allspice overtones and soft tannins. A fruit bomb, but a well balanced fruit bomb. |
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2006 Round Hill California, Merlot $8 Score: 86.0 Lighter in color and body than the usual Merlot, the 2006 Round Hill has dry cherry and mineral flavors, soft tannin and a crisp edge through the cherry-berry-earth finish. Better structured than a "fruit bomb" and it's a bargain at $8. |
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2006 Redwood Creek California Merlot $8 Score: 84.0 This is a simple wine with a subdued nose, yet concentrated black cherry and plum fruit on the palate. It shows supple tannins on the mid-palate, decent balance and a chalky finish. It's better balanced than you would expect from this price point. It's a good quaff for casual dining -- the perfect pizza wine. |
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2005 Ghost Pines Winemaker's Blend 60% Napa County, 40% Sonoma County Merlot $23 Score: 93.0 I've had a lot of wines of cult status and four times the price that are not as good as this outstanding debut. Ghost Pines is a second label of Louis M. Martini, reserved for wines of multiple AVAs (American Viticultural Areas), in this case Napa and Sonoma, which is actually nothing new for Louis Martini, a Napa winery that has owned vineyards in Sonoma and Lake County for decades. The fruit is explosive -- cherries, blackberries and plum with an integrated layer of spice (cinnamon, clove, vanilla, fennel), superb balance, contained tannin, and great vibrancy that resonates from the nose through to the long, satisfying finish. This is an absolute steal at $23. Lay in a case. |
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2004 Pietra Santa Cienega Valley Merlot $15 Score: 91.0 Cienega Valley is a unique appellation that produced Almaden wines in the 1960s and '70s. Pietra Santa continues the tradition with this complex Merlot that displays a core of plum and black cherry fruit, infused with basil and sage. At 14.5% it's at the top end of acceptable alcohol, but it gives a balanced impression. Its supple tannins make it easy to drink now, but it's structured for extended aging if you'd like to give it another decade in your cellar. |
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2006 Red Rock California Merlot Reserve $12 Score: 83.0 This E&J Gallo brand was only available in restaurants until the '06 vintage. It's a light bodied red with raspberry overtones and modest tannin. You won't find complexity (or any oak character, for that matter), but there is elegance in its simplicity, balance and structure, making it any easy match at the table, and a bargain at $12. |
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2005 Rutherford Ranch Napa Valley Merlot $38 Score: 93.0 You'll love this super elegant, perfectly balanced Merlot showing flavors of blueberry, cherry, black truffles and bittersweet chocolate, with a silky mouthfeel. A reasonable 13.5% alcohol. |
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2005 Kenwood Jack London Vineyard, Sonoma Valley, Merlot $25 Score: 88.0 By its density, its structure and its reticence this Merlot suggests that its best days are ahead of it; it?s built for extended ageing. What it offers now is concentrated blackberry with very light herbal nuances, a whiff of cedar in the finish, and understated oak. Its austerity screams of mountain fruit. The integrated tannins are just a smidge bitter. The stated alcohol is 14.5%, which is too much by our standards, but it does come across as balanced. If you insist on drinking it before 2010, be sure to decant it to give plenty of aeration. |
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2005 Bargetto Rosso, California, (Dolcetto, Zinfandel, Merlot, Tempranillo, Carignane, Refosco and Nebbiolo) $12 Score: 92.0 An interesting blend of Italian, French and Spanish varieties, it weighs in at 14.5% alcohol. Of all of its components, it most resembles Tempranillo -- a velvet covered whip -- silky smooth with a spicy-acidic kick on the extraordinarily long finish. The fruit tends toward raspberry and cranberry, with vanilla and light milk chocolate tones in the background. Only 490 cases produced. Amazing value |
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2006 McManis California Merlot $10 Score: 87.0 Merlot fans will rejoice in this silky gem. It has the typical cherry-berry fruit you've come to expect from Merlot, with a light underlying layer of damp earth. The tannins are soft and fuzzy, suggesting it's best to drink it now and through the next three years. Excellent value. |
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2003 Ironstone Vineyards Calaveras County Meritage [78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc] Reserve $35 Score: 86.0 Here Ironstone reaches for the moon and falls a bit short, but we applaud the effort. Their Reserve Meritage is a soft, enveloping fruit bomb redolent of blackberries, with nutmeg undertones. The soft tannins stay in the background and will recede further over the next 3 to 5 years. Enjoyable as it is, I doubt it will develop much complexity, though it's a wine that should work well at the dinner table as a foil for such dishes as beef or lasagna. Only 500 6-bottle cases produced. |
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2004 Trinchero Family Monterey County Merlot $12 Score: 85.0 An enticing nose of cherry and raspberry jam and allspice, dry and somewhat austere on the palate, with soft tannins and good acidity. Drink now through 2012. |
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2005 McManis Family Vineyards California Merlot $10 Score: 87.0 Ripe black cherry and loganberry compote with toasty oak overtones, soft tannin, full body and a lingering, mouthfilling finish. Excellent value. |
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2002 Vine Cliff Winery Napa Valley Merlot $30 Score: 91.0 Blackberry-cherry jam with scents of mint that carry through to the palate with subtle soil-mineral notes, silky texture, soft tannin, good acidity. Easy drinking now, it will reward further ageing for the next 7 to 10 years. My favorite Vine Cliff to date. |
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2003 Sebastiani Alexander Valley Merlot Appellation Selection $24 Score: 91.0 For those of you who want to experience a cult wine without the cult wine price, try this elegant blend from Alexander Valley. Principally Merlot (76%), it also contains Cabernet Sauvignon 12.5%, Syrah 5.5%, Petite Verdot 3%, and Cabernet Franc 3%. Full of black cherry fruit with hints of mocha, maple syrup and sage, it's nearly as silky a good Pinot Noir. Perfectly balanced for current drinking, but should last 5 to 10 years. Excellent value. |
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