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Wine Details
Price:
$19.99 per bottle
Description:
Cool air off the San Pablo Bay gives the hillside vineyards of Carneros a long, moderate growing season, allowing the grapes to develop slowly and making for rich, focused wines. Casa Carneros has treated their Merlot gently and given it some extra oak-aging to round out the wine and smooth the tannins. The 2001 shows lots of fruit - black cherry, plum, blackberry - filled out by touches of earth, smoke, and vanilla.
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Varietal Definition
Merlot:
Merlot is known as a Noble Bordeaux varietal. Although it came to France in the first century, it was not named until the 1880s. Merlot was originally used only for blending, as it is soft and compliant, very useful in softening other Bordeaux wines like Cabernets. Recently in California and Chile it became popular as a 100% varietal wine. Merlot tends to be easier to grow in a variety of soil conditions and is harvested earlier in the year than Cabernet. Although most Merlots are made to be drunk earlier, there are many with complexities of a Cabernet. Flavors of plum, black cherry, violet, chocolate and orange pair well with rich, red pasta dishes, hearty chicken dishes, and any beef combination that you fancy. The perfect match of course is chocolate. Not only does the chocolate compliment the wine and vice-versa, but the essence of both flavors linger eternally.
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