Tasting Notes |
Dark plums. Fruit cake. Boiled Christmas pudding. A zest of exotic fruit peels.
Background: There are very few outstanding Merlots in Australia. The wine press regularly tastes them and asks what it is supposed to be all about. The conventional wisdom in Australia is that Merlot is useful variety to be used in small proportion to soften Cabernet. The conundrum is that in most cases Merlot is more tannic than Cabernet and tasted alone, too often shows a firm finish from green flavoured methoxypyrazines that smell like capsicum. It is the marriage of climate, soil and variety that is required. The degree of methoxypyrazine present relates directly to leaf condition between flowering and harvest which in turn relates to irrigation and soil moisture. When I visited Petrus in 1985, the day after harvest there was hardly a green leaf to be seen. The problem is viticultural. To get a good vintage in Bordeaux you need a dry finish and low soil moisture. The valley flats are hopeless. The deep gravels, plateaux limestones and repellent clays are the best soil types to limit the vines access to moisture. We have to stay away from the taps.
|
|
Currently seventy percent of the grape gathered in Bordeaux is Merlot. Pomerols are currently valued by the market above all other dry red wines. In the United States demand for Merlot is booming, driven no doubt by the recognised benefits of red wine to cardiovascular health and the relative approachability of the wine. Warm daytime temperatures in California can burn out pyrazines.
The advantage of Merlot, when it likes its home, is a certain sweet palatability that Cabernet Sauvignon, by its very structure, is denied. Whereas Cabernet shows a rather astringent backbone, a certain uni-dimensional stiffness in its constitution, Merlot, in its best examples, will show roundness on the palate, sweetness, and a glorious length of taste sensation that is difficult to match. Its tannin structure equals Cabernet but the mid- palate is more generous. Perceptions in wine have a lot to do with the balance between flavours rather than the absolute levels of particular components. Cabernet shows a more singular identity than Merlot in its aromatics, as does Cabernet Franc and Malbec.
 |
|
A customer taking it easy.
|
Merlot has arguably been the Happ's flagship, our best recognised and most sought after red wine. We have been making it since 1984 and it has been very successful in shows with gold medals in 84, 85, 91, 93 and 94. This success underlines the value of the climate of the Dunsborough vineyard. Over the years we have moved towards riper styles and longer skin contact. At the same time, show judges have been consciously rejecting wine with pyrazine aromatics. Today' Merlot is more intense in flavour, it becomes approachable at about three years of age, and will cellar for an extended period.
Current Vintage 2002
Reviewed in these words by Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine in June/July 2004 as one of the top 30 reds under $30. I have added some bits in brackets to help you understand what they are saying.
One of the best wines from a wide and often eclectic (assorted, diverse, free, miscellaneous) selection of grapes grown by the irrepressible (unmanageable, out of control, uncontainable, unruly, disobedient, disorderly, wild, abandoned) Erl Happ of Margaret River, this is Merlot at the more serious end of the spectrum. (These guys must have been reading Halliday. The effect of this double whammy is to place me well outside the range of permissible behaviours and politic performance). There's a heavy (profound, weighty) complex nose, with earthy, savoury (wholesome, congenial) characters mixed in with red fruit scents. Itís a similar story in the mouth - red cherry and berry fruit flavours bound up with seriously grippy oak tannins and fine acidity. (excessive pyrazine and a little Co2 spritz.) Truly impressive depth and length. Will last for years, but great now if given plenty of air and served with grown-up food.
Peter Forrestal, Huon Hooke, Sally Marden. (I'm only trying to help).
|
