IntoWine asked a panel of wine experts for their best Merlot recommendation taking cost into consideration:
Great Merlots from Napa Valley easily run $50 to $75 and higher. The best value recommendations for Merlots that I’ve rated 92 points or higher in the last couple years—the only two that can be found for under $30—are the ’09 Fields Family from Napa Valley’s Oak Knoll Distric (92+ points, averages $26) and a delicious, complex Merlot from Slovenia, the 2008 Batič (92+ points; $29).
Among Merlots I’ve rated 90 to 91+ points in the last couple years, the best values are Merryvale’s Starmont (averages $24, 91 points), Frostwatch Bennett Valley ($28, 91+ points), Waterbrook Reserve Columbia Valley, Washington ($23, 90 points), Field Stone Alexander Valley ($17, 90 points), and Wildhurst Reserve Lake County ($15, 90+ points). Richard Jennings, IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder RJonWine.com. ------------------------------------------------------
Say what you will about the movie Sideways but the film weeded out the bad and expensive California Merlot on the market. In fact, it made the entire state reconsider the grape. The 2006 Mandolin Merlot Central Coast didn't budge. Sourced from the Central Coast's Hames Valley AVA vineyards where the air is cool and the days are long, the grapes develop an ideal balance between fruit and acidity. Rarely does a $10 dollar wine outperform a $50 dollar bottle, but thanks to an intelligent combination of stainless steel fermintation and oak aging, the Mandolin Merlot Find Mandolin Merlotintegrates the spice and vanilla of oak in a very minimal way. The result pounds many of the wimpy Merlots found in prestigious vineyards of other California Appellations. Pronounced aromas of bing cherry, chocolate mint and tobacco lead to flavors full of red currants, goji berries, eucalyptus and cacao. I think what Miles meant to say was, "I don't drink bad Merlot." Luckily the Mandolin Merlot is not one of them. - Michael Whitehead, IntoWine Featured Writer
Find Laraneta WinesEver since the movie Sideways slammed merlot, the once noble grape has been reduced to a punch line over a punch down. But merlot, slowly on the rise again is, and has always been, a great grape. Case in point, the Laraneta Vineyards Sa Va, ($26) a 100 percent merlot from Paso Robles. This is a first vintage for Laraneta, and this wine will cause you to re-think drinking merlot. Black cherry, mocha, cedar, sage and a white pepper note, plus the integration of oak, fruit and tannins will have you making nice with merlot and apologizing for ignoring it. And this version is soft and plush enough to go with a variety of foods. At 26 bucks, you’ll be stunned at the quality in your glass. - Michael Cervin, Wine Judge, Restaurant Critic, and IntoWine Featured Writer
Chateau Tour de Mirambeau Bordeaux SuperieurLike the scrawny bespectacled kid who can’t catch a football, Merlot seems to be the prime object of bullying these days. Maybe it was the infamous “I’m not drinking any f***ing Merlot” rant in Sideways, maybe it was the industry folks who got tired of camera-wielding, Hawaiian print shirt-wearing tourists asking for “merlotte,” in twangy accents, or maybe it’s just the preponderance of insipid, over-cropped, canned green vegetable tasting Merlots that plague the market. But Merlot doesn’t have to be wretched; in fact, many can be quite magical. Nobody is going to accuse Chateau Pétrus of tasting like green beans. But you don’t have to shell out your life’s savings to get a right bank Merlot that encapsulates all of the beauty that the grape is capable of. The Despagne family owns a number of properties in Bordeaux, and their Chateau Tour de Mirambeau Bordeaux Supérieur, made from 70% Merlot grapes (the remainder is Cabernet) grown just outside of Libourne is a bargain at $12.99/bottle. The wine exhibits a smooth, supple mouthfeel with notes of plum, dark fruits and cedar. It’s soft enough to pair with lighter meats such as pork or chicken, and reaches its apex matched with roasted duck breast with cherry sauce. But you don’t have to be a master chef to enjoy Chateau Tour de Mirambeau. This is one wine that can just as easily be enjoyed on its own. - Kareasa Wilkins, Wine Consultant for Weimax Wines & Spirits in Burlingame, CA and an IntoWine Featured Writer
For the last six years, October has been designated as (hashtag) MerlotMe, a month long campaign to get people to drink more Merlot. Don’t people already drink Merlot? Well, yes, it’s the second most planted red grape behind Cabernet Sauvignon. Here in the US there’s still residual Sideways Merlot...
Chateau Ste. Michelle is one of the largest and most revered wineries in America. Located in Washington's Columbia Valley, Chateau Ste. Michelle is often -and mistakenly- overlooked by oenophiles searching for fine American wine. It isn't often that one gets to "talk shop" with the winemaker from a winery of the caliber of Chateau Ste. Michelle -they tend to be awfully busy people after all- but IntoWine.com had the good fortune of being able to do just that. What follows is our chat with Chateau Ste. Michelle Winemaker Bob Bertheau.
When the wines of Bordeaux were classified in 1855 all of the wines were from the Left Bank of the Gironde River. In fact, with the exception of Haut Brion, which is from Graves, all of the wines classified were from the Medoc. Since that time, the winemaking areas of Bordeaux have greatly expanded. Some of the best wines in Bordeaux are now made on the Right Bank including some of the most expensive wines in the entire world. While there is no official classification system for all of Bordeaux, there can be no doubt that if such a system was implemented today, at least a few Right Bank wineries would make the list. Perhaps no winery deserves the mythical first growth of the Right Bank title more than Cheval Blanc. In fact, the wines of Saint Émilion, a commune on the Right Bank, were ranked in 1955 and Cheval Blanc was one of two that received the highest rank of Premier Grand Cru Classé (A). Those rankings were redone in 1969, 1986, and 1996 and most recently in 2006 (although that ranking is the subject of an ongoing legal dispute not relevant to Cheval Blanc) and Cheval Blanc has remained a First Growth in every subsequent ranking.
Le Marche (pronounced lay Mar-kay) is a region in central Italy that borders the Adriatic Sea to the east and the Apennines to the west. Le Marche borders Emilia-Romagna to the north, Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio to the west, and Abruzzi to the south. The terrain is mostly hills and mountains once you get away from the coast. The area has a long history matching most of the historic conquests of Italy: it was occupied by the Gaul’s, colonized by the Romans, later it was invaded by the Goths and Lombard’s, then by Charlemagne. It was then mostly a papal state before finally being annexed in the mid-1800’s by the kingdom of Italy.
Say “Oregon” and Pinot Noir comes to mind. Argentina? Malbec. And who can say “Shiraz” without thinking of Australia? But what grape will Washington wine country claim as it’s own as it expands in production and popularity? There are so many red treasures in this state, sometimes it is hard to say. But after my luscious Saturday tasting, I’m thinking Syrah and Merlot may duke it out for the prize.
Among Merlots I’ve rated 90 to 91+ points in the last couple years, the best values are Merryvale’s Starmont (averages $24, 91 points), Frostwatch Bennett Valley ($28, 91+ points), Waterbrook Reserve Columbia Valley, Washington ($23, 90 points), Field Stone Alexander Valley ($17, 90 points), and Wildhurst Reserve Lake County ($15, 90+ points). Richard Jennings, IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder RJonWine.com.
