Donald is originally from Durban in South Africa and with in-depth knowledge of the South African wine industry that will be the focus of his articles.
Read more about Donald Griffiths and see other articles by this author.
I recently ordered a case of Pinot Noir from the Schroeder Wine Estate in Patagonia, an area in Southern Argentina that is starting to make its mark on the world of wine. I must admit that I was a little more than slightly disappointed when a case of their Merlot was delivered to my door as they had run out of stock in the Pinot Noir. I even considered sending it back and getting a refund but decided to try a bottle to see what it was like. Thank goodness I did as its a fantastic wine.
The merlot grape took a bit of a bashing in the movie Sideways and apparently sales of merlot plummeted by as much as 50% in some parts of California after the movie had been out on general release for few months. Considered to be a “safer” option to a lot of the other red grape varieties, merlot has a reputation for making soft, plummy and well-rounded wines that are easy to drink – one could say middle of the road. I think this is why Miles, the main character in Sideways, is so scathing of merlot and refuses to drink its wines – his attitude is one of snobbery partially but also reflects the fact that the merlot grape is probably used to make more mass-produced, cheap and average “table wine” than any other grape. I find it ironic that in the closing scenes of the film Miles sneaks a bottle of Cheval Blanc into a McDonalds to savour after a particularly bad day – a wine made with as much as 60% Merlot in some vintages.
This wine is everything you’d expect from a merlot and more. Deep garnet red in colour it has a stewed fruit and berry smell on the nose indicative of the fruitiness of the grape with a hint of cigar-box mustiness and a little bit of peppery spice. On the palate the wine is full, well-rounded and very silky smooth. Plum-laden fruits abound with a hint of earthy “terroir” to give it enough complexity to keep you interested in taking another sip but understated enough so as not to out-do the complexity of the fruit and provide a harmonious balance.
At 14% alcohol by volume the wine is more than robust enough to stand up to just about any food type – venison, duck, thick and hearty casseroles – a perfect winter food wine – as well as full-flavoured cheeses. I had a glass with steak and kidney pie and to me it was the perfect match as it complemented the gaminess of the kidney, the texture of the steak but did not overpower the pastry.
This wine was available from the Sunday Times Wine Club and Laithwaites in the UK a few weeks ago but seems to be out of stock at the time of writing this article. Stockists can be found by doing a search on www.wine-searcher.com
Marks out of 100 – 85
