3rd Feb 2003
£5.99 widely available on the High Street
TESCO OFFER £3.99 TO 11/02/03
A Chilean Merlot that might not be all Merlot, but I like it so who cares?!!
I have always considered this wine to be solid and reliable value at £5.99, but at £3.99 it is a veritable bargain.
OK, so it is not a wine to compete with the top St.Emilion, Napa Valley or Chilean Merlots, but at this price point it delivers what you should expect, i.e. good body and structure, some chalky tannic grip, and lots of ripe fruit, with hints of toast, coffee and dark chocolate. (OOOOOH, I've come over all Jilly Goolden-esque, no offence!!)
If you think the wine exhibits a slightly green pepper edge to the fruit I would agree with you. This will be due to the fact that Chilean Merlot is not necessarily pure Merlot. A few years ago some bright spark pointed out that many of the Merlot vines throughout Chile were not truly Merlot. A lot of the vines were (and still are) Carmenere, an old Bordeaux grape variety that is now virtually extinct in the Bordeaux region. Similar in style but with this slightly green pepper tone. As the plantings are so mixed up many wines contain an unknown quantity of Carmenere in the blend, and the terms "Chilean Merlot" and "Merlot Merlot" were invented to explain the difference. As the cepages (plantings) are being slowly sorted, many producers are vinifying pure Carmenere varietal wines, (Errazuriz do one themselves), but I still have quite a soft spot for these "Chilean Melot" blends.
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