Also very much maligned. This article is brought to you by the letter M.

Seriously though, if you are basing your opinion of Merlot on the Sideways movie, it’s time to move on from 2004 and the opinion of Miles. I mean would you take his advice on anything else?

I’ve written on this noble varietal many times because it is one of my favorite and one of the only wines I can usually nail in a blind tasting.

Here are some fun facts:

• The name is the diminutive of merle, French for blackbird, so little black bird.
• Merlot is the 2nd most planted grape varietal in the world
• It is the most planted varietal in Bordeaux, a region more often associated with Cabernet Sauvignon
• It’s parents are Cabernet Franc and the obscure grape Magdeleine Noire des Charentes

This month, I’m writing with fellow wine writers, from the Wine Pairing Weekend (#winePW) group, as we Celebrate Merlot, hosted by Camilla Mann of Culinary Cam.

I’ve been eyeing two bottles in my cellar, both 2014’s, that I’ve been thinking needed to be enjoyed soon. So let’s get get to those!

Rutherford Hill|Cask Reserve Merlot|2014|14.5% ABV|$105

First things first. This wine is for sale at the Rutherford Hill website for $105. I purchased it from the Wine Spies website for $44. Talk about a score!

Founded in 1972, the terroir of this property was found to be so similar to Pomerol in Bordeaux, Merlot was the obvious choice for planting. One of the first wineries in Napa Valley to feature Merlot, it is still the focus of the Rutherford Hill Winery.

The original main building of the winery was built in 1968 by then builder, soon to be winemaker, Joseph Phelps. The winery was originally Souverain of Rutherford, owned by the Pilsbury Company. How crazy is that?

The Terlato family purchased the winery in 1996, with a vision of making wines that reflected quality over quantity. The Terlatos made major improvements, including a miles long cave system and state of the art winemaking equipment. They continue to strive for improvement in all aspects of the winery, including sustainable growing and winemaking practices. The winery is completely solar powered – that’s impressive.

The grapes for the Cask Reserve are hand selected, and the wine is intended to be the best that Rutherford Hill has to offer. Then winemaker Marisa Taylor’s goal is for this wine to reflect the world class terroir of Napa Valley. The wine is aged in French oak, with only the very best barrels being selected for bottling, resulting in just 600 cases being produced.

My notes for this wine include luxardo cherry, dark chocolate, anise, and coffee. On the palate this wine had incredible acidity and velvety smooth tannins – a perfect combination. I got juicy black cherry, smokiness and savory notes.

We paired this with a ribeye steak and grilled romaine lettuce. It was an excellent pairing and if you haven’t tried grilled romaine, I will never stop trying to convince you. It defies logic and explanation, it is so delicious.

Somerston Estate|Napa Valley Merlot IV|2014|15.1% ABV|$90.00

We purchased this bottle on a visit to the Priest Ranch tasting room in November of 2019, and if I recall correctly we paid $90 for this wine.

Somerston Estate is located on the eastern edge of Napa Valley, high in the Vaca mountains. There are 242 acres of vineyard and only four different wines produced, each from a unique vineyard block, in this case the Stornoway Block IV. Although the land was originally purchased by Joshua James Priest in 1869, the wine history of this estate does not begin until 1947, when the first vines were planted. In 2004 Somerston purchased the Priest Ranch property, and in 2006 winemaker and co-founder Craig Becker produced the first vintage. By 2011 an old barn on the property had been completely renovated into a state of the art winery.

The goal at Somerston Estate is produced wines that reflect the place they are grown, while doing it sustainably and with great respect for the land and what it provides. Currently the winery is able to meet all of its heating and cooling needs with a zero carbon footprint, with plans to add additional solar panels in the future to meet 100% of the energy needs of the winery.

Becker’s winemaking philosophy is best summed up in his own words:

“The great wines of the world all have a sense of place. It is the winemaker’s role to capture the estate’s potential in every bottle, without a heavy hand.”

Craig Becker

On that note, let’s talk about how much I loved this wine. It was literally like silk on the palate. I like to think it is because they were hand picked, hand sorted and lovingly placed into their fermentation tanks, but I’m sure it has much more to do with the expert knowledge of the winemaking team at Somerston. The vines grow at 1150′ elevation. The wine was aged in French oak – 70% new – for 24 months, where it underwent natural malolactic fermentation. Only 49 cases were produced.

I really like knowing the timeline story of the wines I drink. I like knowing what happened during the growing season, when the grapes were picked, when they were bottled and if a winemaker provides that info it really just tickles me pink. These grapes were harvested on October 3, 2014 and bottled on December 6, 2016. I go through my mental rolodex and try to think of what I was doing at those times. To me it is just one of life’s great joys.

On the nose, I got black fruit, anise, chocolate and blueberry. All of this was there on the palate, with the addition of an earthy note and a sweet tobacco spice finish. This wine was really delicious and I wish that I had drank it by itself because I opted for pairing that wasn’t great.

I have a vegetarian chili recipe that I absolutely love. It is one of my favorite dishes. It has unsweetened cocoa powder and cinnamon and black pepper and I think one of the reasons I love it is because it is so savory. I thought it would go great with a Merlot, but the chili powder and cumin just came through too much and it didn’t work like I thought it would. I usually use feta cheese and pickled jalapenos on this dish, but thought that mozzarella and avocado would work better for this pairing, but neither the wine, nor the chili were enhanced. C’est la vie eh? I highly recommend both the chili and the wine separately and you can find the chili recipe here.

In reading Somerston Estates notes about the 2014 vintage, it provided the information that the growing season had been nearly perfect. How coincidental that I ended up with two Napa Valley Merlots from this vintage? I love comparing like this and although I thought the Rutherford Hill was absolutely wonderful, I found the Somerston Estate to be just a bit more elegant on the palate, despite the higher ABV. My husband thought the opposite and preferred the Rutherford Hill, but only by a hair.

Do you have a favorite Merlot? Please drop it in the comments!

And also, read these articles from the Wine Paring Weekend writers:

American Merlot Meets Kashmiri Food by Keep the Peas

A Redwoods Ride, a Merlot from Santa Cruz, and Pacific Cod Soft Tacos by Culinary Cam

Bottom Round Roast with Mushrooms and Merlot by Cooking Chat

Celebrating our Homecoming with L’Ecole Merlot by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Magical Merlot Moments by Avvinare

Merlot and the Common French Fry: Just Do It! by Our Good Life

Pairing Merlot while your kitchen is out of service by My Full Wine Glass

Unveiling the Flavors: Blueberry Tart and L’Ecole Merlot by Exploring the Wine Glass

Vegetarian Italian Fall Fare: Squash Focaccia Wins With Ettore’s Organic Mendocino Merlot by Wine Predator…Gwendolyn Alley