Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wow. This is really well structured with beautiful berry, dark-chocolate, mineral and spice character. It’s full and tannic but polished and reserved. Excellent. Better in 2016.
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 right bank of Bordeaux between St. Emilion and Bergerac, Cotes de Francs boasts southwestern exposed slopes that produce robust Merlot-based wines. A tiny amount of Sémillon is grown and made in both dry and sweet styles.