Menage a Trois Merlot 2014
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With its alluring aromas and lush flavors, Ménage à Trois Merlot reminds you of what it’s like to fall in love. Ripe blackberries and juicy black cherries flirt with smoky spices and sweet vanilla in a deliriously delicious way. Grapes are sourced from premier vineyards in California’s cool Coastal vineyards and warm, sunny sites in Lodi. Winemakers ferment the wine in stainless steel and age it briefly in oak.
The perfect wine to add a spark to date night, and it knows just how to romance a roast chicken or a cheeseburger.
When it comes to wine, we believe the more the merrier, so we’re delighted to invite you to indulge in an experience like no other. Our winemakers play matchmaker, bringing together ripe, luscious flavors, alluring aromas, and sensual textures to create our collection of fun, flirtatious wines. Ménage à Trois originated as a blend of three red varietals, created in 1996 by two psychiatric professionals at the Folie à Deux Winery in St. Helena, California. Capturing wine lovers’ imagination through word of mouth, the offering was soon expanded to white and rosé blends as well. Continuing to grow, the Ménage à Trois brand increased significantly after the brand was added to the Trinchero Family Estates portfolio in 2004. Ménage à Trois is credited with creating the Red Blend category and defining the domestic Super Premium Red Blend segment, elevating the brand to iconic status within the wine industry.
Today the fourth most widely planted red variety in the state, Merlot has much to offer. While it bears similarities to Cabernet Sauvignon (its half-sibling), it tends to be lower in both acidity and tannins, giving Merlot wines a mouthfeel that is often perceived as soft, round and plush. These qualities make it an ideal blending partner for Cabernet, the two complementing each other throughout.
Merlot arrived relatively late to the California wine scene. It wasn’t until the 1970’s when producers like Louis Martini, Sterling and Matanzas Creek—influenced by European Merlot blends—began crafting single varietal versions. These trend-setting bottles opened the eyes of others in the California wine scene and spurred increased plantings. From there, the variety’s lush drinkability led to a surge in popularity, then overplanting (some of it on unsuitable sites) and finally a backlash that was turbo-charged by the infamous 2004 film, Sideways. What most viewers didn't realize was that, as much as Miles derided the variety, the prized wine of his collection—a 1961 Château Cheval Blanc—is made from a blend of Merlot with Cabernet Franc.
Fine examples of California Merlot—either as a single varietal wine or as part of a blend—can be found from Napa Valley, Sonoma County, the Central Coast and most regions around the state. Merlot wines offer a ripe, sensual mouthful of plummy fruit, suggestions of mint, herbs and vanilla, all carried along by an approachable structure and often, a great potential for improving with age.