Friends, Merlot is Not Dead

As you may have noticed, Eric Asimov's column (and blog post) today focuses on merlot. He even mentions a locally produced bottling -- Lenz 2000 Old Vines Merlot, which I think is one of the best to be had (though pricey at $55 or so). His blog post highlights mainly California merlot, which if you ask me is like talking about the fresh seafood in Indiana.

Remember this: Merlot is not dead. She just doesn't live in California.

Living on Long Island and writing so much about its wines, you'd expect me to be fully in merlot's court, but the fact is that there is a lot of bad merlot being made here as well.

On second thought, maybe "bad" is the wrong word...bland, boring and uninspired may be more accurate. And this is obviously subjective. There are obviously people buying and enjoying these wines, or no one would bother to make them.

As Eric says, "Bad merlot will most likely always be with us." But we certainly shouldn't write off the variety based on the stuff that I often describe as "This tastes like red wine. Nothing more. Nothing less." Don't even get met started on over-oaked, over-manipulated renditions from the left coast.

It's certainly not like merlot is the only variety that has been bastardized, over-manipulated or dummied down to the point that any and all varietal character is gone. I'm not going to name names, but certain states probably have many wine drinkers convinced that chardonnay tastes like a two-by-four slathered with butter. Should we hate chardonnay becuase of those flabby ridiculous wines? I think not. Sorry ABCers. Let me open some unoaked chardonnay for you. You'd you probably have no idea what chardonnay actually tastes like.

Should we loath the syrah-heavy blends of the Rhone Valley because of the simple, jammy and sweet shiraz bottlings with cute labels from down under? Not a chance.

Merlot, in this sense, is like any other wine grape -- you have to taste through a lot of rocks to find that little gem. But hey, people like rocks and you're one of them, drink on. There's no room for snobbery here. Drink what you like. But let's not bash an entire variety shall we?

Okay, the end of my little rant. Looking for a gem of a merlot? Get your hands on any of the following:

• Raphael 2001 First Label Merlot
• Wolffer Estate 2001 Estate Selection Merlot
• Shinn Estate Vineyards 2002 "Six Barrels" Merlot
• Bedell Cellars 2001 Reserve Merlot
• The Lenz Winery 2000 Old Vines Merlot

And let me know what you think once you taste them.

Oh and please ignore the person who calls merlot a "blending grape" in Eric's blog comments. That's just ridiculous.

Comments

[Bill]

Nice rebuttal. I was surprised that in an article about fighting Merlot’s bad rap, he didn’t mention the LIMA.

[Les Howard]

Lenn,

I could'nt agree with you more!

Merlot has certainly gotten a bad rap lately.

The over oaked high alcohol versions have turned people off!

I think the more balanced fruit driven merlots of Long Island are wonderful.

[Ed]

Lenn,
I loved your line about many Merlots being "bland, boring, and uninspired", I think it sums up most of the poor ones. Although the overoaked Merlots have also added to the wines bad reputation.

As summer approaches, I think some of the LI Merlots will be a tasty quaff. I need to do some tasting and find a couple house wines.

[Catie]

Sorry. I was bad and could not ignore the person who made the comment about Merlot being a blending grape. I suggested that person come to Walla Walla, Washington and taste our Merlots as they will pair quite nicely with the crow they will eat.

[A Guy, a Girl, and a Bottle]

Lenn - Great post. Great Merlot, but not in California? I would beg to differ! Check out a podcast that we recently posted on the whole topic of Merlot from all over the World (not just CA). This was given by Swanson Vineyards, and we posted about 50% of the content from this highly informative perspective on Merlot.
http://www.gngnb.com/?p=69 I'd be interested to know what you think of hte lecture.

- Joe

[R. Olsen-Harbich]

Amazing what a line in a movie can do! It shows you how little people are able to trust their own taste buds and instead feel the need to rely on mass media to make their decisions...anyway - you know I couldn't resist throwing my 2 cents in here.. Allow me to remind everyone of all the absolutely terrible, banal, poorly made Pinot Noir out there in the world, not to mention the millions of gallons of boring, prosaic Chardonnay....there are lots of examples of all different varieties - Lets not just harp on varieties alone if that were the case we better get on the phone right now and tell M. Mouiex to pull out all his vines! Instead talk about producers, regions and microclimate - things that can all add up to either success or utter failure. There are good and bad examples of all these varieties made in the world. The best part is finding the great producers and seeing what they can do and how they stand apart.

With regard to the labeling of the merlot as a "blending grape" - ALL of the Bordeaux varieties are historically "blending varieties" Don't think I know of any 100% varietal wines made in the region.