Merlot
Merlot
Chateau Gloria 2022 Saint-Julien
Deep garnet colour accompanies fresh redcurrant, peppered chocolate, mineral notes and white pepper. The wine is full-bodied, with rounded fruit, fine tannins and a long finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc make up the blend. Grapes are harvested by hand. Vinification takes place in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks, and maturation lasts fourteen months in oak barrels. Alcohol is 13.8 percent.
Chateau Pichon Baron 2018 Les Tourelles de Longueville Pauillac
Intense ruby colour accompanies very ripe red fruit, black cherry and mild spice. The wine is silky, delicate and smooth, with fresh, harmonious tannins and a persistent finish. The blend is sixty-six percent Merlot, twenty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, eight percent Cabernet Franc and six percent Petit Verdot. Maturation lasts twelve months, using both new barrels and barrels previously used for one vintage.
Echo de Lynch-Bages 2016 Pauillac
Fresh fruit aromas appear with oak and spice. The wine is supple and powerful, with balance and round, mouth-coating tannins. The blend is seventy-three percent Cabernet Sauvignon and twenty-seven percent Merlot. Grapes are hand picked and sorted in the vineyard. Maturation lasts twelve months in French oak barrels previously used for one vintage. The vineyards lie on Garonne gravel in Pauillac.
Château Clerc Milon 2007 Pauillac
Deep purple colour has violet highlights. Garrigue, blackcurrant, cedar, vanilla and toast appear with fleshy red fruit. The wine is full-bodied, fresh and balanced, with supple, close-knit tannins, oak and mocha, and a long finish. The blend is forty-eight percent Cabernet Sauvignon, forty-two percent Merlot, seven percent Cabernet Franc, two percent Petit Verdot and one percent Carmenère.
Château Langoa Barton 2015 Saint-Julien
Intense colour accompanies a bouquet of red fruit, undergrowth and tobacco. The texture is fleshy and tight, with spice, tannins, a silky palate and a long, tense finish. The blend is fifty-four percent Cabernet Sauvignon, thirty-eight percent Merlot and eight percent Cabernet Franc. Harvesting is entirely by hand. Alcoholic fermentation lasts seven to ten days, maceration about three weeks, and oak maturation sixteen to eighteen months.
Château Malartic-Lagravière 2005 Pessac-Léognan
Very deep red-black colour has purple hints. A delicate nose carries ripe red and black fruit, freshness, menthol, violets, blackcurrant, mineral, smoke and roasted notes. The attack is mellow and rich, with a tight, distinguished and vigorous tannic structure. The mid-palate is broad and generous, with fruit, minerality, toast, wood and balance. The blend is fifty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon, forty percent Merlot and five percent Cabernet Franc.
Silver Oak 2016 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Ruby colour and a magenta rim accompany cassis, blackberry, vanilla, sage and spearmint. Potpourri, bramble and raspberry are also present. The finish is juicy, with chewy tannins and medium length. The blend combines 94.6 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, four percent Merlot, and one-half percent each of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, with 0.4 percent Malbec. It matured for twenty-four months in American oak, half of it new.
Mission Hill Family Estate 2004 Oculus
Merlot accounts for seventy-four percent of the blend, joined by Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Cedar, cassis and savoury black fruit appear alongside mint, liquorice, black raspberry and bitter chocolate. The wine is medium-bodied, with firm tannins and powerful character. This Bordeaux-inspired red comes from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia and is presented in a 750 mL bottle.
Château Rousselle 2016 Côtes de Bourg 3 L
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Cabernet Franc make up the blend. Red and black fruit include raspberry, blueberry and cherry, alongside liquorice, thyme, rosemary and mineral notes. The wine is supple and smooth, concentrated, fruity, round and full. The finish is notably long, and the average vine age is forty years. This red comes from Côtes de Bourg in Bordeaux.
Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2005 Pauillac
Dense purple colour appears with crème de cassis, flowers, wet stones and blackcurrant. The wine is ripe, full-bodied and fleshy, with length and richness. Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for seventy-eight percent of the blend and Merlot for twenty-two percent. The grapes were hand picked. Maceration lasts about three weeks, while maturation lasts sixteen to eighteen months in French oak barrels.
Osoyoos Larose 2011 Le Grand Vin 1.5 L
Merlot accounts for forty-eight percent of the blend. The balance is thirty-three percent Cabernet Sauvignon, ten percent Petit Verdot, six percent Cabernet Franc and three percent Malbec. Cassis and spice appear with blackcurrant, mulberry, espresso and dark chocolate. Tannins are polished and firm, and cedar appears on the finish. The listed alcohol is fourteen percent. This red comes from British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.
Antinori Guado al Tasso 2008 Bolgheri DOC Superiore
Toasted oak, coffee and spices appear with plum and blackcurrant. The palate is soft but firm, with acidity, freshness and crispness. Tannins are extremely elegant, and the aftertaste is very persistent, with coffee, berry fruit and toasted oak. The blend includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with Petit Verdot used in a small amount. Barrel ageing lasts eighteen months.
Château Léoville Barton 1999 Saint-Julien
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for seventy-two percent of the blend, with twenty-two percent Merlot and six percent Cabernet Franc. The wine has extremely dense colour and a powerful tannic structure. Harvest ran from late September into early October. The end of summer was warm and dry, and the grapes reached full ripeness. Merlot recorded high natural alcohol levels during the vintage.
Laughing Stock 2021 Portfolio 3 L
Merlot accounts for half of the blend; the balance is twenty-nine percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twelve percent Cabernet Franc, five percent Malbec and four percent Petit Verdot. Cassis and blueberry appear with cedar box and fresh tobacco. Red fruit, cocoa powder, smoked cherry and tobacco leaf are also present. The wine has structure, texture and a long spicy finish.
Antinori Guado al Tasso 2009 Bolgheri DOC Superiore
Balsamic notes appear with ripe fruit and spices. The palate is velvety, with soft tannins and finesse. Savoury mineral notes, length and persistence are also present. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are joined by a small amount of Petit Verdot. Malolactic fermentation and eighteen months of ageing take place in small oak barrels. Bottle ageing lasts ten months.
Château Cantenac Brown 2010 Margaux
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for sixty-one percent of the blend and Merlot for thirty-nine percent. The colour is deep and dense. Fresh red fruit appears with coffee, toasted almond and toast. The palate is fleshy, rich and tense. The wine has precise tannins and natural acidity. Ageing lasts sixteen months in French oak barrels, sixty percent new and forty percent one year old.
Joseph Phelps 2019 Insignia
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for seventy-five percent of the blend, with Petit Verdot and Merlot each at ten percent, Malbec at three percent and Cabernet Franc at two percent. An inky dark hue accompanies ripe blackberry, star anise, cigar box, clove and sweet mocha. The full-bodied palate has velvety texture, supple tannins, black plum, violets and baking spices.
Château Lynch-Bages 2020 Pauillac
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for sixty percent of the blend, with Merlot at thirty-one percent, Petit Verdot at five percent and Cabernet Franc at four percent. The vineyard soil is Garonne gravel. The grapes are hand-picked and sorted in the vineyard. Ageing lasts eighteen months in French oak barrels, with new wood accounting for seventy-five percent.
Château Léoville Poyferré 2010 Saint-Julien
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for fifty-six percent of the blend, with Merlot at thirty-four percent, Petit Verdot at seven percent and Cabernet Franc at three percent. Mindel gravel terraces lie over sandy-clay subsoil. Blackberry, black cherry and orange peel accompany a full body, round creamy tannins and a flavourful finish. Violet edging appears around the rim.
Château Rousselle 2016 Côtes de Bourg 6 L
Red and black fruit, raspberry, blueberry and cherry are joined by liquorice, dried wild herbs and mineral tones. The palate is soft, creamy, fruity, round and concentrated, with a long finish. The vineyard is planted mainly to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec on limestone slopes beneath brown clay. The wine ages for twelve months in French oak barrels.
Château Phélan Ségur 2022 Saint-Estèphe
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc form a 56/40/2/2 blend. Almost-black colour has purple reflections. Juicy black fruit, spice, subtle floral notes, black cherry, rose and cedar are present. The palate is fleshy, flavourful and mellow, with power, density, richness and silky, assertive tannins. The finish is persistent and balanced, with menthol notes.
Tenuta Luce 2021 Luce Toscana IGT
Intense ruby-red colour accompanies dark fruit, wild blackberry and mulberry, with sweet violet, blossoms and mixed spice. The palate is broad, with silk-smooth tannins, balance and a long spice-infused finish. Merlot and Sangiovese form the blend. Fermentation takes place in concrete for twelve days, with twenty-two days of skin maceration. Ageing lasts twenty-four months in eighty percent new and twenty percent once-used barriques.
Nittardi 2009 Riserva Selezionata Chianti Classico 1.5 L
Sangiovese and Merlot form a 95/5 blend from the single south-facing Vigna Alta hill at 500 metres. Fermentation lasts fifteen days in stainless steel at twenty-eight to thirty degrees. The wine spends twenty-four months in French oak barriques and six months in bottle. Warm ripe-fruit aromas and freshness are present. This Riserva was produced only in a year selected for its quality.
Château Malescot Saint-Exupéry 2018 Margaux
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc form a 60/32/8 blend. The vineyard has Pyrenean gravel, ten thousand vines per hectare and an average vine age of forty-five years. Fruit is hand harvested and sorted. The wine ferments in temperature-controlled stainless steel and concrete, then spends thirteen to fifteen months in barrel, seventy percent new. Balance, depth, freshness and silky tannins appear with lightly woody, toasted notes after aeration.
Joseph Phelps 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Ripe currant, tobacco, leather, pencil shavings and dark chocolate are joined by dark plum, blackberry and savoury spice. The full-bodied wine is rich, fleshy, dense and layered, with acid structure and depth. The blend is ninety-two percent Cabernet Sauvignon, four percent Petit Verdot, two percent Cabernet Franc, one percent Merlot and one percent Malbec. It matured for sixteen months in new and used French and American oak barrels.
Tenuta di Saragano 2018 Montefalco Rosso Riserva
Sangiovese forms sixty percent of the blend, with twenty percent each Merlot and Sagrantino. Ruby colour tends toward garnet, with black cherry, ripe wild berries, cedar and tobacco. The profile is soft and harmonious, with refined tannins. The twenty-five-year-old vineyard lies at 500 metres on sandstone and clay. Maturation includes French barriques, large barrels and a year in bottle in an underground cave.
Château Coufran 2009 Haut-Médoc
Deep crimson colour accompanies blueberry, blackcurrant and fine woody hints. The palate is full and ample, with concentrated, fleshy substance and tender tannins. Merlot forms eighty-five percent of the customary blend, joined by fifteen percent Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard lies on gravel and clay in the Haut-Médoc appellation, with vines averaging about fifty years of age across a single seventy-six-hectare block.
Château Malartic-Lagravière 2016 La Réserve de Malartic Red
Merlot forms sixty percent of the blend, with thirty percent Cabernet Sauvignon and five percent each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Ripe blueberry accompanies a supple, medium-bodied profile and a long, silky finish. Vinification uses thermoregulated stainless-steel or oak vats, while maturation lasts fifteen months in French oak barrels. The cuvée is a red from Pessac-Léognan.
Domaine de Compostelle 2020 Pomerol
Merlot makes up eighty-five percent of the blend, with fifteen percent Cabernet Franc. Cassis, roasted cherry, black fruit and pepper sit alongside mineral detail, juiciness, violet and incense. The tannins are racy, while the texture is round and supple with freshness. The finish is persistent, smooth and soft. Production totals twelve thousand thirty-four bottles, with maturation divided between tank and barrel.
Poplar Grove 2016 The Legacy
Cabernet Franc leads the blend at thirty-three percent, joined by twenty-five percent Malbec, fifteen percent Merlot, fourteen percent Cabernet Sauvignon and thirteen percent Petit Verdot. Savoury cedar, lead pencil and red fruit accompany fresh red cherry, dried herbs and dense, sweet tannins. Estate-grown grapes were hand-picked and sorted. Production included extended maceration, twenty-one months in French barriques and two years in bottle.










