Winemaker Notes
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
On the northern border of the acclaimed Pomerol region, Lalande de Pomerol is an incredible source of impressive Merlot-based wines, but at a fraction of the price compared to its southern neighbor. The region has the potential to offer the same concentration of the finest in Pomerol, but typically not without a touch of appealing rusticity.