Merlot Madness
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2016 4:27 pm
So last month it was my turn to host a tasting of my local wine group and I thought it would be interesting to compare examples of merlot-based wines from California, Italy and France.
We sampled the wines in four flights, not blind, with one bottle from each country in each flight, with the flights (possibly) being in ascending average order of quality. After each flight, I took a vote of the group favorite and then, the overall favorite.
We had a light meal of smoked scallop bruschetta followed by stuffed quail and French cheeses for dessert. I prepared a booklet with information about the Merlot grape and each wine.
The final vote for WOTN for the group of twenty-two guys was:
1st place - 1982 L'Évangile (9 votes), 2nd place - 2001 Masseto (7 votes), 3rd place - 1982 Pétrus, 6 votes. (I voted for the Masseto, seduced by its gorgeous fruit.) I though all four Italian Merlots were splendid.
Since I was not taking notes, I have copied the notes below from our local wine merchant extraordinaire, Andrew Lampasone, but I have added a few comments in bracketed italics.
I was quite surprised that this group favored the Bordeaux example in each flight as well as overall since they are more focused on California wines.
Flight 1:
2001 Pride Merlot Napa
A bit oxidized on the nose, dried herbs, red currant berry and plum fruit dark chocolate. A nice freshness to the palate with some fruit remaining a bit of that dried meat notes to the finish. Smooth silky tannins. Sweet mocha dark tootsie roll candy notes on the finish./Excellent+
[Oaky, alcoholic, hot and unbalanced]
2007 Petrolo Galatrona Tuscany
Rich plum and red cherry fruit, fresh earth loamy notes and sweet herbs, nice complexity here on the nose. Still quite tannic with a long finish a firm hand of acidity, currant and plumy fruit, nicely balanced./Most excellent
1970 Chateau Trotanoy Pomerol Mint and chocolate cedar and tobacco spice that clay like earthy character. Smooth as silk on the tongue with tangy red berry fruit, that mint and chocolate nuance and a note of medicinal quality through the finish. A bit of oxidation here./Excellent+
[Dried faded fruit, notes of iodine and cranberry, not fun to drink. I did not get mint or chocolate.]
Flight 2:
2012 Blankiet Rive Droite Napa
Red plum cherry sweet herbs and tobacco notes. This wine is very sweet almost candied cherry liqueur like fruit wow a super rich and plumy wine lots of spice and a long fresh finish. So rich will this wine last it has wonderful balance like chocolate cake with cherries. A bit manufactured but still balanced./Most excellent+
2004 Macchiole Messorio
Dark berry fruit, fine herbs a bit of a stewed meat like quality to the plum and dark berry fruit very well endowed. A good amount of fruit here very rich on the tongue more that dried meaty character coming out through the finish. Finish 50+./Most excellent
1982 l'Évangile Pomerol
A good amount of mint dark chocolate and some plum and dark cherry fruit, abut musty but lovely complexity. Wow smooth and velvety, this wine is still quite massive with a long layered finish. Still quite tannic./Most excellent+
[Impressive, mature, lively, very complex]
Flight 3:
2008 Verite la muse
A good amount of fresh black earth red licorice dark cherry, toffee sweet herbs and sweet tobacco notes very oak endowed. Thick and chewy with layers of fruit and tannins but the tannins are round and ripe nice freshness. KILLER this was the most complete of all the California wines this evening and the most potential to age
2006 Tua Rita Redigaffi
A good amount of dark plum fruit black earth and black spices tar smooth ripe round tannins dark earth dried herbs a meaty character. A big and chewy wine with lots of that earth and wonderful freshness./Most excellent +
1989 Chateau Lafleur Pomerol
Fine herbs that milk chocolate notes with a fresh earth clay like minerality very complex, dried herbs. Beautiful fruit lots of ripe plumy cherry fruit, smooth velvety tannins lovely freshness and a long layered finish./Most excellent+
Flight 4:
2007 Kapscandy Roberta reserve
Sweet cherry liqueur, sweet tobacco spice, mocha cherry liqueur like fruit sweet toasty oak spice very well endowed, very rich California style merit very long but a bit sweet but has nice balance and a long layered finish. Finish 45+
[My favorite of the California Merlots]
2001 Ornellaia Masseto
That dried meat like with a good amount of plumy dark cherry fruit, still very rich with a long layered finish, very rich and layered drinking very nicely right now but has structure to last another decade or more in the cellar wonderful length and balance finish 50+/Killer
[Awesome Masseto, massively fruity with excellent structure, perfectly mature]
1982 Chateau Petrus Pomerol
A very rich bouquet dark chocolate minty notes very rich wow very rich and layered toffee that mint and chocolate with wonderful richness this wine seems to go on and on through the finish. Wine of the night!! And this bottle seems to have a lot of life, the best 1982 Petrus that I have had!!/KILLER
[Very good but there is an herbaceous streak that RP has noted, not a great Petrus]
Dessert Wine:
1959 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes
Honey apricot preserves and brown spices very thick and viscous on the tongue with hints of orange blossom beeswax and honey./Excellent
[Amazingly fresh, well balanced, but a bit simple]
Stuart
We sampled the wines in four flights, not blind, with one bottle from each country in each flight, with the flights (possibly) being in ascending average order of quality. After each flight, I took a vote of the group favorite and then, the overall favorite.
We had a light meal of smoked scallop bruschetta followed by stuffed quail and French cheeses for dessert. I prepared a booklet with information about the Merlot grape and each wine.
The final vote for WOTN for the group of twenty-two guys was:
1st place - 1982 L'Évangile (9 votes), 2nd place - 2001 Masseto (7 votes), 3rd place - 1982 Pétrus, 6 votes. (I voted for the Masseto, seduced by its gorgeous fruit.) I though all four Italian Merlots were splendid.
Since I was not taking notes, I have copied the notes below from our local wine merchant extraordinaire, Andrew Lampasone, but I have added a few comments in bracketed italics.
I was quite surprised that this group favored the Bordeaux example in each flight as well as overall since they are more focused on California wines.
Flight 1:
2001 Pride Merlot Napa
A bit oxidized on the nose, dried herbs, red currant berry and plum fruit dark chocolate. A nice freshness to the palate with some fruit remaining a bit of that dried meat notes to the finish. Smooth silky tannins. Sweet mocha dark tootsie roll candy notes on the finish./Excellent+
[Oaky, alcoholic, hot and unbalanced]
2007 Petrolo Galatrona Tuscany
Rich plum and red cherry fruit, fresh earth loamy notes and sweet herbs, nice complexity here on the nose. Still quite tannic with a long finish a firm hand of acidity, currant and plumy fruit, nicely balanced./Most excellent
1970 Chateau Trotanoy Pomerol Mint and chocolate cedar and tobacco spice that clay like earthy character. Smooth as silk on the tongue with tangy red berry fruit, that mint and chocolate nuance and a note of medicinal quality through the finish. A bit of oxidation here./Excellent+
[Dried faded fruit, notes of iodine and cranberry, not fun to drink. I did not get mint or chocolate.]
Flight 2:
2012 Blankiet Rive Droite Napa
Red plum cherry sweet herbs and tobacco notes. This wine is very sweet almost candied cherry liqueur like fruit wow a super rich and plumy wine lots of spice and a long fresh finish. So rich will this wine last it has wonderful balance like chocolate cake with cherries. A bit manufactured but still balanced./Most excellent+
2004 Macchiole Messorio
Dark berry fruit, fine herbs a bit of a stewed meat like quality to the plum and dark berry fruit very well endowed. A good amount of fruit here very rich on the tongue more that dried meaty character coming out through the finish. Finish 50+./Most excellent
1982 l'Évangile Pomerol
A good amount of mint dark chocolate and some plum and dark cherry fruit, abut musty but lovely complexity. Wow smooth and velvety, this wine is still quite massive with a long layered finish. Still quite tannic./Most excellent+
[Impressive, mature, lively, very complex]
Flight 3:
2008 Verite la muse
A good amount of fresh black earth red licorice dark cherry, toffee sweet herbs and sweet tobacco notes very oak endowed. Thick and chewy with layers of fruit and tannins but the tannins are round and ripe nice freshness. KILLER this was the most complete of all the California wines this evening and the most potential to age
2006 Tua Rita Redigaffi
A good amount of dark plum fruit black earth and black spices tar smooth ripe round tannins dark earth dried herbs a meaty character. A big and chewy wine with lots of that earth and wonderful freshness./Most excellent +
1989 Chateau Lafleur Pomerol
Fine herbs that milk chocolate notes with a fresh earth clay like minerality very complex, dried herbs. Beautiful fruit lots of ripe plumy cherry fruit, smooth velvety tannins lovely freshness and a long layered finish./Most excellent+
Flight 4:
2007 Kapscandy Roberta reserve
Sweet cherry liqueur, sweet tobacco spice, mocha cherry liqueur like fruit sweet toasty oak spice very well endowed, very rich California style merit very long but a bit sweet but has nice balance and a long layered finish. Finish 45+
[My favorite of the California Merlots]
2001 Ornellaia Masseto
That dried meat like with a good amount of plumy dark cherry fruit, still very rich with a long layered finish, very rich and layered drinking very nicely right now but has structure to last another decade or more in the cellar wonderful length and balance finish 50+/Killer
[Awesome Masseto, massively fruity with excellent structure, perfectly mature]
1982 Chateau Petrus Pomerol
A very rich bouquet dark chocolate minty notes very rich wow very rich and layered toffee that mint and chocolate with wonderful richness this wine seems to go on and on through the finish. Wine of the night!! And this bottle seems to have a lot of life, the best 1982 Petrus that I have had!!/KILLER
[Very good but there is an herbaceous streak that RP has noted, not a great Petrus]
Dessert Wine:
1959 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes
Honey apricot preserves and brown spices very thick and viscous on the tongue with hints of orange blossom beeswax and honey./Excellent
[Amazingly fresh, well balanced, but a bit simple]
Stuart