KICKING OFF AUTUMN WITH #MERLOTME

This year again the #winepw group are having a celebration of Merlot Month. Several of us received wine samples and although I'm sure there is overlap in the bottles we all received, it should be a fun discussion of all things Merlot! Check out the wines, tastings, pairings, musings below, and join us on Twitter on Saturday, 10 October at 8 AM PST under #winepw to chat to everyone about their thoughts on Merlot, the wines, and their Merlot+food pairings.

• Andrea at The Quirky Cork shares "Three Turkish Merlots"
• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares "Merlot: A Varietal That Plays Well with Others"
• Cindy at Grape Experiences shares "Sip Merlot with Vegetarian Favorites"
• Deanna at Asian Test Kitchen shares "Fall Vegan Menu Paired with 2016 Napa Merlots"
• David at Cooking Chat shares "Merlot Food Pairing: Tips and Favorites"
• Gwendolyn at Wine Predator shares "Meatloaf and #MerlotMe with Sonoma’s Selby and Columbia Valley’s L’Ecole No. 41"
• Jane at Always Ravenous shares "Merlot Pairing: Baked Pasta with Sausage Ragù"
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares "A Tale of Two Merlots at the Grill"
• Jill at L'Occasion shares "What’s So Special About Merlot?"
• Lauren at The Swirling Dervish shares "October is #MerlotMe Month: Here’s What I’ve Been Sipping"
• Linda at My Full Wine Glass shares "Kicking off #MerlotMe in the Pacific time zone”
• Liz at What's in that Bottle? shares "Make Room for Merlot!"
• Lori at Exploring the Wine Glass shares "Leaves on the Ground and #MerlotMe in my Glass"
• Lynn at Savor the Harvest shares "Next Gen Merlot From Where It All Started"
• Martin at Enofylz shares "A Meatless #MerlotMe Redux"
• Nicole at Somms Table shares "5 #MerlotMe Nights"
• Payal at Keep the Peas shares “Kicking Off Autumn With #Merlotme”
• Pinny at Chinese Wine & Food Pairings shares “#MerlotMe with Markham and L’Ecole No. 41 Merlots and Army Ramen”
• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles shares "Merlot from elegant to badass. Time to #Merlotme."
• Rupal at Syrah Queen shares “#MerlotMe - Best Food Pairings For Merlot”
• Susannah at Avvinare shares “Brazilian Merlot Is Always Welcome At My Table”
• Terri at Our Good Life shares "Merlot Me with Noodless Lasagne"
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares "Woohoooooooo....It is #MerlotMe month"

MERLOT + MERLOT MONTH

Merlot is a dark blue grape traditionally used for blending where it is used to add body and softness to a blend, but it is also used in single-varietal wines. Merlot wines are generally fleshy, soft, velvety, low in tannins and with juicy acidity. Aromas associated with Merlot are a combination of black and blue fruit, cherry, plum, eucalyptus, thyme, leather, wet soil, mushrooms, etc. If the Merlot is aged in oak, add chocolate, vanilla, coffee, baking spices to the mix. There are also some Merlots that are quite brawny and grippy but usually Merlot wines are very drinkable, easy to pair with a variety of foods, and quite delicious!

October has been declared as National or, depending on whom you ask, International Merlot Month. The #MerlotMe hashtag was created in 2013 to promote Merlot and perhaps counter some of the negative effect of the movie Sideways. Evidently, Sideways has the dubious distinction of turning wine drinkers in an entire country - the US - off Merlot. I've watched the movie and I can say that "I'm never drinking Merlot" was NOT my takeaway from the movie. In fact, I had no take-aways from it. I'm sure I've missed something but I haven't figured out how an average buddy film could single-handedly have such a profound effect on a wine grape that is used in acclaimed wines such as Petrus. But it has, since 2004 when the movie was released. I hope this is an MBA case study somewhere! Despite the ups and downs, winemakers have continued to produce excellent Merlot wines and for that, many of us wine lovers are grateful.

THE WINES

I've received four wine samples for Merlot Month and have reviewed only two here. The wines all arrived 3 days ago and I was quarantined so wasn't allowed in the kitchen until today. Nevertheless, I'm glad to be back and thankful that I did not catch Covid-19 or anything else during my flights and time spent working with others. 

2017 Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Merlot

80% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2.5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Malbec 

14.5% ABV | Sample (SRP $56)

Vinification: 

100 French oak, 40/60 new/neutral

Colour: 

Deep ruby

Nose: 

Ripe, ripe, ripe black and blue fruit, almost jammy. A whiff of baking spices and vanilla.

Palate: 

Similar to nose: ripe black and blue fruit, a splash of red fruit, baking spices, vanilla. A refreshing juicy acidity, fine-grained tannins, a medium+ body, with a lengthy finish. The wine opened up as it sat in the glass but overall it could use a rest in the bottle. I think it would be great in 3-5 years.

2018 Decoy Sonoma County Merlot

98% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Petit Verdot

13.9% ABV | Sample (SRP $25)

Vinification: 

100 French oak, 40/60 new/neutral

Colour: 

Medium Ruby

Nose: 

Black cherry, violets, black and white pepper

Palate: 

Black cherry, cocoa, cedar, and a note of minerality at the taper. Juicy acidity, dusty tannins, medium body, medium finish. This wine may be terrific in 2-3 years but I'm not sure how much more complexity it would develop. It might be best to enjoy it now.

THE FOOD

We paired both wines with a gratin of ziti and cauliflower done in an equal mix of two classic French sauces: sauce tomate and soubise. The sauce tomate brought the acidity to match the Merlot, and the soubise brought the smooth heft from the béchamel sauce and onion purée. The parmesan-bread crumb crust added the savoury umami that really brought everything together.  And the pasta and cauliflower added a much-needed coziness. In general both wines went nicely with the gratin but the Duckhorn was the clear winner if there were one. This was a perfect stay-in for the evening and watch your favourite movie or TV show wine and food pairing. A welcome change from the hectic few weeks I've had of wilderness holiday, work travel and  project follow-up, exam prep and exam, and finally ~10 days of quarantine since I'd been out of town for work. I barely remember September!

KASHMIRI YAKHNI PULAO AND MOLDOVAN WINE

This month we have a bonus - and very exciting - event that Lynn is hosting. Check out her sneak peek here! Our brand new blogging group World Wine Travel is discussing wines from Moldova in collaboration with Wine of Moldova and Vinconnexion. Moldova, the sliver tucked between Romania and Ukraine in SE Europe, that boasts more grape vines per person than anywhere else in the world! Lynn very generously arranged for samples for a few of us and we will discuss our thoughts on those, Moldovan grape varietals, food pairings, and Moldova Wine Day on Twitter this Sunday, 4 October at 8 AM PST under #worldwinetravel. In the meanwhile, read below to find out what everyone's saying...

• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “Two Indigenous Moldovan Grapes – Fetească Albă and Fetească Neagră – Paired With Colțunași Harnici (Hard-Working Dumplings)”

• Wendy from A Day In The Life On The Farm is “Celebrating the Food and Wine of Moldova”

• David from CookingChat has “Food Pairings for Moldavan Wines”

• Lori from Exploring the Wine Glass shares “Sitting Down with Master of Wine Caroline Gilby to Discuss Moldovan Wine”

• Terri from Our Good Life shares “Moldova Wine Day Celebration!”

• Linda from My Full Wine Glass is “Celebrating ‘My Wine Day’ and the little country that could”

• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles shares “Moldovan Wine – moving forward while not losing track of the authentic grapes of their past” #WorldWineTravel

• Susannah from Avvinare writes “You say Feteasca and I’ll Say Moldova”

• Jennifer at Vino Travels tells us about “Eye Openers to the Wines of Moldova”

• Melanie from Wining With Mel is “Exploring new territory with Moldovan wines”

• Jeff from foodwineclick asks the question “Are Local Grapes the Future of Moldovan Wines?”

• Here at Savor the Harvest I share “Moldovan Native Wine Grape Discoveries” #WorldWineTravel

• Jill from L’Occasion discusses “Wines of Moldova: Worth the Adventure”

• Payal from Keep the Peas pairs “Kashmiri Yakhni Pulao and Moldovan Wine”

• Nicole from Somms Table is “Celebrating Moldova National Wine Day with More Food and Wine Explorations”

• Rupal at Syrah Queen shares “Celebrate Moldova National Wine Day – Exploring Native Varieties”

• Liz Barrett from What’s In That Bottle shares “Moldova National Wine Day is Here!”

• Pinny from Chinese Food And Wine Pairings tells us about “Celebrating Moldova National Wine Day with Chinese Food”

wineofmoldova.com

MOLDOVAN WINE

The region that is now Moldova, once part of Romania, has been making wine since approximately 3000 BC. The topography includes hills, sunny plateaus and plains, and streams that flow into two big rivers, Prut and Dniester. The climate is continental with influences from the Black Sea. Allthis makes it ideally suited for viticulture and the production of quality red and white wines. Moldova has 112 thousand hectares of vineyard planted with international and native grape varietals spread over 3 main wine regions: Valul lui Traian (south west), Stefan Voda (south east) and Codru (center). Native grape varietals account for 10% of the vineyards and include Feteasca Alba, Feteasca Regala, Feteasca Neagra, Rara Neagra, Plavai, and Viorica. 

I received 4 samples for this review: Suvorov Vin Viorica and Castel Mimi Feteasca Alba (white wines), and red blends from Chateau Purcari and Radacini.

THE WINES

SUVOROV VIN 2018 VIORICA

13% ABV | Suggested SRP $18

100% Viorica

According to the winery: "Viorica is the name of a Moldavian girl, it comes from the flower of the same name. A wine with great personality and character, made from the local selection of Viorica grapes. Produced according to a special technology from selected Viorica grapes grown in vineyards in the Stefan Voda region (South-East) of Moldova. Delightful, harmonious, soft taste of wine reveals nuances of tea rose, candied fruit, honey and nutmeg. The grapes were grown in vineyards in the Stefan Voda region (South-East) of Moldova."

Tasting Notes: 

The grapes for this pale gold wine are hand-harvested. On the nose it is wonderfully floral with notes of lemon rind and a faint mineral edge. On the palate it has notes of sweet white flowers,  muscat grapes, lemon juice, and a faint stony minerality with a juicy acidity and medium finish. Overall it is not too complex and certainly meant to be enjoyed now.

CASTEL MIMI 2018 FETEASCA ALBA

13% ABV | SRP $15

100% Feteasca Alba

Constantin Mimi, the last governor of Bessarabia and the man behind the vines and wines at Castel Mimi, may even be regarded as the force behind Moldovian wines. In 1893 he planted the first grape vines and started construction for the very large castle named after him. Having survived the tumult of the Soviet Bloc, Castel Mimi is now regarded not only as an excellent winery that produces wines from a variety of red and white grapes but also as a cultural center of excellence in the Republic of Moldova.

Tasting Notes: 

This unoaked wine is medium gold wine with flecks of green. On the nose and palate it is full of juicy citrus and stone fruit notes with a delicious minerality on the finish. The juicy acidity and medium finish make it perfect for wam weather. Overall it is not too complex and certainly meant to be enjoyed now.

 

THE FOOD

We paired the wines with Kashmiri yakhni pulao with mushrooms (home-made) and walnut chutney one day, and a Hyderabadi vegetable biryani (take-out) the next. Both dishes are redolent with complex flavours and warm spices without being spicy and complement the wines beautifully.

The yakhni pulao, cooked in a fragrant broth, was lovely with both wines. In Kashmir the yakhni pulao would be made with local morel mushrooms but it's definitely not morel season in CA so I had to make do with shiitake mushrooms. The walnut chutney is a classic Kashmiri accompaniment to a slew of dishes and was also excellent with both wines, especially the stone fruit of the Castel Mimi white. The Hyderabadi biryani really enhanced the floral and muscat notes in the Viorica and brought forward the lemon notes. A squeeze of lemon is a great flavour enhancer for pretty much any savoury dish from the Indian subcontinent so this was an absolute hit pairing that we would repeat!