Merlot
Merlot
Mission Hill Family Estate 2004 Oculus
Canadian Red
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 2014 Côtes de Bourg 3 L
French Red
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
French Red
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
Canadian Red
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
Italian Red
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
French Red
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
Canadian Red
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
Italian Red
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
French Red
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 2012 Insignia
American Red
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
French Red
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
French Red
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 2014 Côtes de Bourg 6 L
French Red
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
French Red
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
Italian Red
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
Italian Red
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
French Red
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.
Château Bahans Haut-Brion 2004 Pessac-Léognan
French Red
Vanilla, leather and tobacco meet ripe plum, smoked meat and undergrowth. The wine is pure and focused, with a mineral spine and solid tannins; freshness remains present in the well-enveloped tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon makes up seventy-three percent of the blend, with twenty-two percent Merlot and five percent Cabernet Franc. Barrel ageing is part of the production.
Joseph Phelps 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
American Red
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
Italian Red
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
French Red
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 Boutisse 2018 Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
French Red
Deep garnet colour accompanies spice, cinnamon, clove, star anise, nutmeg, mocha, grilled bread and caramel. The profile is full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a long finish. Merlot forms most of the vineyard planting, joined by Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Carménère, on clay-limestone and clay-silica soils. The fifty-seven-acre vineyard near Saint-Émilion has a southern exposure.
Château Malartic-Lagravière 2016 La Réserve de Malartic Red
French 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
French Red
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
Canadian Red
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.
Black Hills 2006 Nota Bene
Canadian Red
Cabernet Sauvignon makes up forty-seven percent of the blend, with thirty-seven percent Merlot and sixteen percent Cabernet Franc. Tobacco leaf, green olive, sage, tomato leaf and menthol sit beside coffee, pepper, cassis and saddle leather. The palate is round, dry and moderately smooth, with light tannins. Smoky, meaty and savoury notes are also present. Alcohol is fourteen-point-seven percent.
Black Hills 2001 Nota Bene
Canadian Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for forty-six percent of the blend, with thirty-five percent Merlot and nineteen percent Cabernet Franc. Dry cedar, peppery leather, green bean and bell pepper sit beside mint, tobacco and smoky vanilla. The wine has ample extract and fourteen percent alcohol. Production totalled 1,800 cases. Root vegetable, smoky liquorice and peppery olive are also present.
Black Hills 2002 Nota Bene
Canadian Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for forty-eight percent of the blend, with thirty-seven percent Merlot and fifteen percent Cabernet Franc. Black pepper, roasted bell pepper, roots, leaves and saddle leather sit beside smoky vanilla, green bean, olive, cassis, black cherry, stewed tomato and resin. The entry is rich and smooth, with ripe tannins. Alcohol is fourteen-point-five percent.
Black Hills 2007 Nota Bene
Canadian Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for forty-six percent of the blend, with thirty-nine percent Merlot and fifteen percent Cabernet Franc. Black cherry and cassis sit alongside savoury espresso, pipe tobacco and roasted tomato. A dusty finish is also present. The texture is soft, with rich fine-grained tannins and a warm, smooth finish. Alcohol is fourteen-point-seven percent by volume.
Château Batailley 2016 Lions de Batailley Pauillac
French Red
Cabernet Sauvignon forms 61 percent of the blend, joined by 31 percent Merlot and 8 percent Cabernet Franc. The wine has balanced, silky tannins, acidity and length. Fruit comes mainly from young vines on gravel and silica soils. Fermentation lasts fifteen days with pumpovers, followed by eighteen months in French oak barriques, divided between one-year-old barrels and forty percent new oak.