love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12352
 | | 01/05/2008 12:15 PM |
| $55, Mailing List:
Ah very young, very young, & a strong hold. Decanted over an hour, drank over 2-3 hours & it was just coming around. But, already a good looking bottle of wine with potential. Lovely bottle of merlot. Bob & the Peterson make Merlot right. This is a Parker 92 pointer.
Rating: 91+. | | | |
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jason
Napa Valley
Wine Addict
Posts:6829
| | 01/05/2008 12:51 PM |
| | What do you mean by they make Merlot right? These wines are delicious and decadent, does that make them right? Could you actually pick one of these Merlot's out of a line-up of Cabs? When I think of "right", I definitely don't think of Merlot's in the Switchback, Pride, Paloma etc category. | | | |
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Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts:4809
| | 01/05/2008 3:05 PM |
| | I'm with alohaj on this one (well, OK, on most things). We are suffering from a difficult (and strange) position of having the word "Merlot" be a negative. The French don't use varietal designations, and probably wouldn't care, anyway. In the US, we have to either make it taste like a Cab, give it a fanciful name (like "Fat Boy"), or fight the uphill marketing battle. | | | |
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Budman
Master of Wine
Posts:11834
| | 01/05/2008 3:20 PM |
| | There's no negative connotation about merlot for me (and, yes. I've seen Sideways). Once I had my first Pride merlot, I was hooked. I have more merlot in my cellar than ever (well, and pinot, too). | | | |
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jason
Napa Valley
Wine Addict
Posts:6829
| | 01/05/2008 3:37 PM |
| | Thank you Bob, much better said than I. That was my point though. | | | |
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Vine
Milwaukee, WI
Grape Fermenter
Posts:560
| | 01/05/2008 6:43 PM |
| Posted By Bob Bressler on 01/05/2008 3:05 PM
We are suffering from a difficult (and strange) position of having the word "Merlot" be a negative.
It's sad that Merlot has turned into a negative term. The Merlot grape was the varietal that made up one of my first WOW wines back in 2002 (which was one of the formative years in which I really discovered my love of wine). | | | |
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jaimetown
DC area
Wine Bottler
Posts:3411
| | 01/05/2008 8:26 PM |
| | I have not had Switchback Ridge wines so I can't speak for them but I still do enjoy Merlot-based wines - Recent wines that I've had that I've enjoyed include 1998 La Conseillante from Pomerol and Vilafonte 2003 Series 'M'. IMHO Merlot is more interesting when it is fragrant with plummy fruits showing tobacco and earthy notes, rather than the chocolate bombs that some producers have turned Merlot into. Just my two cents. | | | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12352
| | 01/06/2008 11:57 AM |
| | Hey, don't kill me over it. I am not a big Merlot guy but I enjoy just a few of these & this was one of them. All the power to Merlot lovers out there, to each is own. I am not saying others make Merlot bad, but the variety does not work for me all that much is all. | | | |
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jason
Napa Valley
Wine Addict
Posts:6829
| | 01/06/2008 1:08 PM |
| | None of it was really directed at you personally Al. ;) | | | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12352
| | 01/06/2008 8:31 PM |
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davidandrose
Aurora, CO
Grape Puncher
Posts:934
| | 05/03/2008 12:23 AM |
| - 2004 Switchback Ridge Merlot Peterson Family Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley (5/2/2008)
Takes time; poured through a Vinturi aerator to simulate 1 hr decanting into a decanter, then poured from the dacanter back through the vinturi (simulating another hour decant time) into glasses. Consumed over 4 hrs, with the first glasses done in this manner, the last half out of the decanter. Early glasses were very fruit-oriented with a slight alcohol tinge; without the vinturi it was overly tannic and one-dimensional. The final 1/3 of the decanter was just outstanding, with lots of cinnamon, chocolate and dark fruits over a lush tannic base. This is an exquisite and full-bodied merlot deserving of age, and brought to life. The missus says "buy more". Like I didn't need the coaxing, at least I don't have to lie about how it got in the cellar! (93 pts.)
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Vine
Milwaukee, WI
Grape Fermenter
Posts:560
| | 05/03/2008 10:25 AM |
| The missus says "buy more".  
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