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| Merryvale.com |
The Chairman's Selections, wines displayed front-and-center in dump bins and often tagged with hype-building ratings from Wine Spectator or Wine Enthusiast, offer decent value and affordable new tastes to wine drinkers stuck in a PLCB store before dinner.� A case of Merryvale Merlot 2005 branded with the Chairman's seal of approval caught my eye on a recent pre-BYOB foray to the Wine & Spirits store at 232 W. Girard Ave (215-574-1268).
Merryvale is a big-ish Napa Valley winery deservedly famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon, especially bottlings from the Starmont vineyard. I'd never had a Merlot of theirs, and picked the 2005 vintage up based on its high rating (90 out of 100) and appealing price ($19.95).�� Merlot has suffered tarnish to its image in the last decade, the butt of wine snob jokes from dinner parties to Miles' memorably neurotic rant in the film Sideways.� The worst Merlots, the plonk that earned an entire varietal such scorn, are soft, flabby fruit juices that offer no depth or structure. This Merlot, however, defied such generic stereotypes.
2005 was a weird year in Napa, as Merryvale's Web site notes:� "The 2005 harvest was one of great extremes. A very wet spring provided a lot of potential for a big harvest of very juicy fruit. A fantastic Indian summer resulted in long hang times allowing the grapes to mature at a leisurely pace giving us outstanding character and added complexity."� 100 percent Merlot from vineyards in the Carneros and Oak Knoll Districts of Napa Valley underwent extended maceration on their skins and 18 months in French oak barrels (37 percent new).
The finished product poured inky purple, with sharp vegetal notes on the nose. This is no Cali sweet fruit bomb -- dark plum, cherry and cocoa lead, with toasted and sharp edges of cigar tobacco.� The finish lingered on the tongue, dry and smoky.� It would make a welcome addition to a slow-braised dinner, or with duck glazed in fruit sauce.� The PLCB Product Finder can aid you in finding a bottle -- today's search revealed 50 units at the Girard Ave. store where I first saw it.
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