Winemaker Notes
Why make a Merlot? Well fashions come and go, but classic wine styles endure for ever. It's a wine Mollydooker's winemakers personally enjoy. Their Merlot grapes come from Gemtree's vineyard in McLaren Vale, an area which has lovely fruit intensity, and Scott & Cheryl Longbottom's vineyard in Padthaway which is renowned for highlighting the beauty and elegance of the variety.
The combination is a delightful, delicious, charming wine to relax with at the end of a busy day.
Professional Ratings
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.
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.