MERLOT

DID SOMEBODY SAY MERLOT?

Yeah we know that, largely thanks to the scathing ridicule of the varietal in the movie Sideways, the great sea of Merlot that was the trend previously has dried up. Nobody talks about Merlot any more and, while we have seen all manner of trends going south (see also Australian wine), we know its easier to follow the crowd for most folks. Some of us can still remember back to a time when bottling a varietal Merlot was pretty avant garde and wineries like Keenan and Duckhorn created a whole new awareness in the marketplace. For all you naysayers out there, we also like to mention that some of the world’s most sought after wines (Chateau Petrus, Chateau Trotanoy for example) are made from the stuff.

Some wineries never gave up the ghost and, frankly, Merlot can be a rather delicious alternative in the right hands. Getting back to history, the Merlot craze was so strong that producers were growing it in places that it shouldn’t have been grown and slapping together very ordinary bottlings that barely qualified varietally so they could capitalize on the trend. The same thing is happening today with pink wine. The point is that a lot of wines were made that sullied the grape’s reputation, but shame on the industry for that.

In any case, one of the wineries that was in early in the game and still doing very good work is Saint Francis. We hadn’t seen the wines in some time but a rep trotted in with a series of new releases from this old guard Sonoma producer, including reserve bottlings, and the most impressive, as well as the most remarkable value was the Saint Francis Merlot Sonoma County 2019.

Yes we are recommending a Merlot because it was an ample, plush, very solid red at a really good price. Deep color, inviting nose of blackberry, black cherry, spice, briar, and a little vanilla, the fruit appears unmanipulated and it’s pretty juicy. The juice comes from two sustainably farmed vineyards in the Sonoma Valley, Behler and Wild Oak, and saw 16 months in French oak, 25% new. The winery notes said it got a 91 point score from someone but didn’t say who. Not really the point though.

Our whole trip is that one shouldn’t be ashamed to drink Merlot when it’s this tasty and only $15.98. This is the kind of solid citizen that helped make the varietal popular in the first place. Just sayin…

FORCE MAJEURE: NORTHWEST SUPERSTAR

As lifetime entrepreneurs constantly on the lookout for opportunities to improve and innovate, Paul and Susan McBride were attracted to the Northwest for the promise of developing world-class vineyards and wines from the region. Their decision was to create vineyards. In their own words, “Drawing inspiration from the great vineyards of Bordeaux, the Northern and Southern Rhône valleys, as well as parts of Spain, and with a desire to challenge existing viticultural practices in Washington state, we embarked on an ambitious plan to pioneer the very first vineyard on the steep, rocky upper slopes of Red Mountain.”

It’s been more than a decade since we first ran across their wines. We kind of recall, like so many vintners we run across, these folks seemed pretty convinced they were going to be the next big thing. In fact, we can’t dispute that given the body of work we have seen from them. We’re actually a little surprised they aren’t better known given the consistent, super high quality we have seen. If you look at the reviews (which are generally quite spectacular) there were 32 different bottling titles with notes in Wine Advocate, many of which bore the title ‘Collaboration Series’. They seem to be honing in on a smaller lineup f ro the long haul now.

Jeb Dunnuck has been a fan from early on and says this about the winery, “Now focusing almost exclusively on their Red Mountain estate vineyards, Force Majeure is making some of the most compelling wines in Washington State, as well as in the United States. Winemaker Todd Alexander (previously at Bryant Family in Napa Valley) came on board in 2014 and today the wines show another level of purity and finesse, all while not sacrificing depth of fruit or texture… Trust me, these are gorgeous wines you need to try.”

We can’t disagree. These folks seem to be able to create wines of great intensity but also remarkable plushness, that latter element something that isn’t apparently that easy to accomplish in Washington. There aren’t many (any?) names that come to mind that work at this level in terms of polish, saturated palate feel and seamless presentation of fruit. The Force Majeure Epinette 2018 is, to their definition, their “Right Bank” effort. We know there will be a few folks out there that will balk at a wine that is Merlot dominated. So is Petrus, by the way, and this wine has the depth and lavish layers of flavor to overcome notions that Merlot is a ‘lighter’ fare.

From Jeb Dunnuck, his highest mark for the Epinette series (the lowest was a ‘94’) since he first reviewed the 2014 with Wine Advocate, “The 2018 Epinette is the Merlot-dominated release from this team, and it’s 79% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot, all from the estate vineyard on Red Mountain. Lots of smoky black cherry and darker currant fruits as well as notes of chocolate, graphite, lead pencil, and chalky minerality emerge from the glass, and this full-bodied beauty is beautifully textured, with a stacked mid-palate, velvety tannins, and a blockbuster finish. It’s up with the finest Merlots in the New World and will drink brilliantly for at least a decade, if not longer…97 points.”

Everything seems to be working here and this is impressive juice. We’ve been pioneering Washington wines since the late 80s (like the Leonetti Merlot 1987) and can tell you this is a rare effort. It’s not inexpensive, but something this good from Napa would cost two or three times as much.

‘NATURALLY’ TASTY: QUERCIA GROSSA BATTIFOLLE TOSCANA 2014

You’d think after doing this as long as we have, we’d have the sense to be a little more selective of the topics we choose. Sadly, or perhaps not, we are in it for the experience and to highlight wines that deserve attention from folks who love wine, famous or not. It sometimes takes you in directions you aren’t necessarily expecting to go. Quercia Grossa is one of those times, but the wine definitely made it worth the ‘trip’.

Located in the southern part of the Maremma, the warmer part of Tuscany, this wine has the distinction of being from a ‘genre’ that is no longer recognized as en vogue (super-Tuscan), made in a ‘natural’ style (definitely something that sends up reds flags to us because of how many sloppy wines hit the market under that banner), and from one of the most difficult vintages in the region in this century. It would be very easy, simply based on the data, to just look past this one. But the wine was simply too compelling and had an engaging, rather unique personality.

It starts with the farming. In their words, “In the course of this venture, we recovered a number of old vineyards scattered around Roccatederighi in various small plots on the undertaking that they would be treated like a garden, in tune with the rhythms of nature. Production is not forced in the vineyard, and, as far as possible, we use manual working methods in order to avoid using products that may be harmful to the plants and environment. Respect for nature and the environment requires the absence of insecticides, botritycides, weed-killers and chemical fertilizers. Treatment in the vineyards is kept to the minimum.”

As to the harvest itself, “Grapes are hand-picked into small crates, so that they can be examined and sorted if necessary during the harvesting process. The grape harvest is a magical moment in which a symbiotic bond forms between man and the grapevines that have been trained and shaped by generations of loving hands. After the grape clusters have been picked and laid carefully in small crates, they are taken to the winery: an intimate, magical place. Here they undergo a delicate vinification process; the grapes give off an intense aroma and start to macerate in small concrete vats for a period of up to forty days. Fermentation takes place naturally with the aid of the indigenous ‘wild’ yeasts present in the grapes.”

“Achieving and preserving a harmonious balance between man, the grapevines and the surrounding countryside in keeping with the concept that “wine is made in the vineyard” is the key to creating a wine with personality: a wine produced by a local winemaker who treats the grape cluster with the utmost respect, applying a philosophy based on simplicity.”

If you have read enough wine writings, you have heard all of this kind of thing before. The difference here is that, unlike all of the ‘natural’ folks out there that seem to use the process as an excuse for marginal winemaking, the folks at Quercia Grossa made a little magic when the odds were against them. Of course, having former Cristom Pinot-master Tim Manning consulting and informing the wines with an extra level of elegance doesn’t hurt.

We aren’t trying to qualify the achievement either. This tender, fruit centered, surprisingly ample wine is just plain tasty, with a uniquely appealing texture, plum, cassis and black cherry fruit with notes of earth and minerality, and gentle, unfettered tannins. The Quercia Grossa Battifolle Toscana 2014, still presented under the indeterminate banner of IGT, is a blend of 40% Sangiovese, 40% Merlot , and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon , after which it is placed into 225 liter second and third use barrels with minimal sulphite addition.

For the guy who imported this wine, this is a labor of passion. But this genteel, tasty red deserves an audience which is why we bought it.