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EP 803 Another Merlot Blind Tasting

Gary revisits Merlot in this blind tasting of wines around the world, with some interesting results.

Wines tasted in this episode:

2005 Chateau La BienfaisanceSt Emilion
2007 Bellanotte MerlotFriuli Venzia-Giulia IGT
Segal’s Fusion RedIsraeli Kosher Wine
2007 Osso Anna MerlotNapa Merlot

Links mentioned in todays episode.


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Tags: Blind Tasting, merlot, red, review, Video, wine, wines

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  • Tracy

    I have not watched or commented in a while but when I saw the 2005 Ch. La Bienfaisance I had to watch. Mainly because last year I had this wine and Gary's Secrets Cardinal along with 3 other 2005 St. Emillions in a blind tasting. All the wines were decanted for 3 hours before the tasting Funny thing is the La Bienfaisance was the wine of the night with an average score of 94 pts and the '05 Secrets Cardinal was in 3rd place with a 90 + score. These wines were served blind to me and double blind to everyone else. I enjoyed the La Bienfaisance so much I bought a case for the future.

    anyways my favorite Merlot to date has been the La Bienfaisance…

    aloha,

    TLR

  • Cool_Dave

    You might as well forget that request. 🙂

  • Cool_Dave

    Welcome. L love DC. Wife went to Marymount. The Polo Club used to have great Indian.

  • Cool_Dave

    Got my vote!!

  • Anonymous

    Got to be Chateau Haut Tropchaud, phenomenal Pomerol from a small, single vineyard estate. PS – Gary, thought what you did was piece of cake, so had a pop at this wine blog nonsense… turns out it’s slightly tricky. Got one in the can now, but have a look at my bloopers http://www.viddler.com/explore/Richfinn/videos/2/ If you want to see my final version, comment me back! Rich. Ireland.

  • romtina

    Ha, ha, I was hearing the same thing!

  • romtina

    QOTD: Gotta give it to a local one: Tarara 2006 Merlot Reserve. From Loudoun County, Virginia. That's how I fell in love with red wines!

  • Cristian

    First of all, sorry for the long post. I don't think we have great merlot here in Chile, but some time ago I tried a 2000 Lapostolle “Cuvée Alexandre” Merlot that was just delicious. It has a certain amount of carmenere on it.

    Talking about newer wines, I have recently tried the “Arboleda 2007 Merlot”, with a lot of red fruit, touches of leather and raw beef.

    Gary, I know you are not particularly in love with chilean wines (apart from some Pinot noires, sauvignon blancs and carmeneres). I really think most of the chilean wine sold in USA is mainstream. I highly encourage you to try wines from the following wineries (if available):

    CASA MARIN (specially sauvignon blancs and pinot noires)
    MAYCAS DEL LIMARI (in syrah and sauvignon blanc)

    For carmenere, try CASA SILVA, DE MARTINO, and specially the '03, and '06 harvests of TERRUNYO (Concha y Toro) probably the best carmenere for the money “ever” (I would say, 30 bones in USA).

    Cheers,

    Critian

  • yep

  • Actually Chilean wines are comening up strong. They made the best wines in world late 1800 and early 1900 ths but the 1930 ths influende by USA prohibtion toppeld all chancens to reamin an power. Turmoil and instabiliti in Chile all to the 1990 have heldt the good stuff away from emarging. Chile is the next hot zone for really good wines. In Sweden Chilean wines is really on the move. Good QPR if you stick to the traditional winemakers instead of those who bomb everything in oak and jammy fruit

  • jagron11

    Great episode Garry. Too bad you didn't tape this post Jets win. Like to see your reaction. BTW, perhaps don't list the wines in the order you taste for the blind shows. Kind of make it fun for the viewer if they were in some off order as well, so that the reveal will be a surprise as well.

    QOTD: Shafer Merlot 2005.

  • Interesting history AndersN, I didn't know that

    What's the price range for the good Chileans you're talking about? Under $20 US?

  • Yes. Actually often in the 10-15. Maybe we can get it cheaper since our state monopoly is the world's largest buyer of wine.

  • CharlieTN

    DO IT

  • pinotpat

    I don t know if i have a all time fav, longboard from rrv is fun and I like the washington fruit

  • Diana

    New to your show – love it! Don't know alot about wine, I just know what tastes good to me. I think the Rombauer Merlot is one of the most enjoyable I've ever had, and I think I'm probably one of those “smooth on the tongue” people you were talking about.

  • davefromWI

    Gary – good show… I know it's mainstream, but I drink Coppola Blue Label by the case – usually around $15 a bottle. It tastes great to me.

  • cellarrat5

    they most important part is that you like the stuff, in the end its only firmented grape juice with a lot of work and care put into it.

  • cellarrat5

    in addition, Chile is one of the only countries phyloxera has not completley destroied the root systems there. Most of the plantings are original stock, which some believe help carry across terroir that much more.

  • cellarrat5

    Those were some of the most classic GV reactions though! Gary's pallet aside, I would not mind seeing another show in the same vine, or vein. My computer freezes every once and a while due to its slow buffering speed; some of the freeze frames on that episode I am still laughing about today.

  • @garyvaynerchuk As someone who's relatively new to wine (only 22 yrs old) I still have a hard time detecting different scents on the nose… most of the time, with a few exceptions, it just smells like wine to me. Interesting observation I made today though, I had a drop of 2008 vintage (Conquista from Argentina) Malbec left in my glass from last night, and in the morning (now) when i smelled it, I could definitely pick out some plum and pepper components. Do you think that maybe I'm drinking wines too soon? Or if i must have them young, maybe i need to stop drinking right from the bottle, and decant for … 6-8 hours first? To help scents come out?

  • shellbhawaii

    My favorite Merlot is from Darioush in Napa.
    The best year, if memory serves was 2004.
    Unfortunately it runs in the $50 – $60 range, so it's only a special occasion wine for us.
    And, I SO look forward to those special occasions!

  • How much you know about wine, or how much you don't know about wine, in the end it's about one single question: do you like it?!

  • Anthony Minne

    Gary Love The Show-My favorite merlot might have to be the '98 Chateau de Sales Pomerol I enjoyed over the summer. I've tasted this wine young and it is tight and austere like black saddle leather. But I had the good fortune to try it after a decade of aging (not to mention a great vintage) and it completely softened, showing a beautiful cherry candy nose and precision minerality. With some lamb off the grill I was in heaven.

  • The blinds are always such a fun show…everybody likes a surprise…usually.
    The comments upgrade is definitely a good one, given that you want interaction WITHIN your community, not just WITH them. It does not hurt the comments numbers either…

    QOTD: I have had a couple of Merlots that were fantastic, but out of my price range…so I can't really look to them as favorites. I'm getting tired of the whole varietal-centric market and am looking forward to a blending evolution, or revolution…that said, if someone wanted me to bring some Merlot to a party, I would not hesitate to grab Concha Y Toro's Casillero Del Diablo or the Santa Rita Medella Real…sure there is annual variation, but they are generally crowd-pleasers and easy on the dinero.

  • DPnCali

    I'm fairly new to wine as well Jordan (only about a year in) but I found out early on that it is always better to let the wine “breathe” for awhile before you drink it to help bring out the flavors. Now whether you decant or not, just pouring it in a glass and letting it sit for a bit does wonders in my experience.

  • cellarrat5

    welcome Jordan, and welcomd to the fantastic world of Alcohol! I am sure you have been drinking for a while, most of us do before we are 21. I realise your question was directed at Gary, but the most important part is that you like what you are drinking. As far as aromatics and nose are concerned, it really depends o the wine your drinking and how much you drink wine. Gary and his descriptors have had lots of time to develop.

  • troutmonster

    Young wines definitely can take a little time to open up! A wine like that might reveal more smell and taste on day 2

  • Krunch

    Chile is making some great wine at an exceptional price point, But why is everyone forgetting BRAZIL? It is the largest country in that section. There are more French and Italian immigrants there than any other country. An the wine makers are “OLD SCHOOL” they make some of the best South American wine. (In my opinion).

  • Bob

    QotD: Favorite Merlot ever: 2005 Blankiet

  • 24/SEVEN

    Gary, all-time favorite merlot: Martin Ray 1982 ” Winery Lake ” – can still remember this wine 20 years later. Had this wine up against the 1982 Trotanoy and the Martin Ray ruled. My tasting guest worked in Bordeaux at Latour and he was shocked! I believe Doug Fletcher made this wine.
    Blind tastings typically scare people – thanks for having the guts to do it.

  • Anonymous

    diddo!! 🙂

  • TheFireHouseChef

    Love the double blinds, keep them coming! “Whether they like it, or NOT!”

  • cusewino

    Love the blind episodes, the mystery and surprise is priceless.
    Glad to see you will still have the beard for a few more episodes, at least from a football perspective.
    QOTD-Favorite Merlot was probably Jerry Garcia Merlot 2001. Drank it this year after letting it sit and it had a great combo of smooth and character

  • NY Pete

    how about a laid back Friday episode?

  • PLEAAAASSSE

  • tommyb2

    QOTD: I like Merlot! I think my favourite is in my storage at this moment ready to drink in 2011 after I graduate (for the 2nd time in my life): a 2000 Chateau Figeac, St Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classe… can't wait to drink it..

  • yeah, only 2 episodes this week, what's up?

  • Mojave Joe

    No show for a while, GV is sick after taping a red beer episode.

  • castello

    Wow I can comment again? With Chris Motts help. I had tro clear my browsing history and stuff and now I'm back. I know you missed me!

  • QOTD – without a doubt – Château Quinault, La Fleur De Quinault ($93 CDN) – was aromatic and floral on the nose with a delicate blend of plums and dark berries on the palate coupled with silky smooth tannins. It was subtle yet complex with a lengthy and pure finish.

  • geoffmace

    Nice big-boy glass! But, I do hope your Jet's jersey falls off the wall and shatters it.

    Signed,

    Bitter Chargers Fan

  • John Thomas

    my favorite Merlot of last year was 2004 Chappellet Merlot.

  • cellarrat5

    Motion is carried!!

  • raymondbuchan

    how do I log in. Cannot find link??

  • Phredd3

    FWIW, the disqus comments do not work at all on my IE6 installation at work. I can't even read all of them, let alone log in and comment. And yes, I'm trying to convince my ultra-conservative IT guy to upgrade the browsers, but I can't exactly convince him that it is mission-critical for me to see WLTV at work!

  • raymondbuchan

    thanks logged in. Just want to say that in 8 months of watching wine library my wine knowledge has grown so much more than in the previous 8 years reading rather boring wine reviews in newspapers.

    ….another strange thing has happened as I now look out for Jets scores and I am a Scottish St Johnstone football (soccer) club fan!!

    Keep up the good work and I am trying to spread the word this side of the pond for wine library TV.

  • kevinkossowan

    2000 Chateau de la Riviere, Fronsac. Not the poshest I've had, but rubs me in all the right places, year after year.

  • damocoldsnow

    Gary,

    great blind taste test; i think the italians are really coming on in the wine game. How do you feel about that wine called, 'who dat de gonna beat dem saints'?

  • I did!

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