Merlot Starmont 2018
AVA St. Helena, Merryvale Vineyards, 750 ml
Attributes
| Grape variety: | Merlot |
| Producer: | Merryvale Vineyards |
| Origin: | USA / California / Napa Valley |
| Ripening potential: | 3 to 10 years |
| Drinking temperature: | 16 to 18 °C |
| Food Pairing: | Spiced grillades, Roast veal with morel sauce, Brasato di manzo al Barolo |
| Vinification: | fermentation in steel tank |
| Harvest: | hand-picking |
| Maturation: | in partly new and used barriques/ Pièces |
| Bottling: | no filtration |
| Maturation duration: | 23 months |
| Volume: | 15.0 % |
| Note: | Contains sulphites |
Merlot
Everybody’s darling
Merlot is the most charming member of the Bordeaux family. It shines with rich colour, fragrant fullness, velvety tannins and sweet, plummy fruit. It even makes itself easy for the vintner, as it matures without issue in cool years as well. This is in contrast to the stricter Cabernet Sauvignon, which it complements as a blending partner. Its good qualities have made the Merlot famous worldwide. At over 100,000 hectares, it is the most-planted grape in France. It also covers large areas in California, Italy, Australia and recently in Eastern Europe. The only catch is that pure Merlot varieties rarely turn out well. Its charm is often associated with a lack of substance. Only the best specimens improve with maturity. They then develop complex notes of leather and truffles. This succeeds in the top wines from the Bordeaux appellation of Pomerol and those from Ticino, among others.
California
California: Lots of fruit and ripe tannins
Around 90 percent of the wine produced in the USA comes from California. The Napa Valley, situated roughly 100 kilometers north of San Francisco, is the most prominent wine region in the western hemisphere. California vintners first caused an international sensation with Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Today, however, superior wines are also produced from Pinot Noir, Syrah and other varieties. California’s wine country shows more variety today than ever before.
USA
USA - Yes, they can!
The United States is the third-largest nation on the planet in terms of both land area (after Russia and Canada) and population (after China and India). Every conceivable climate zone can be found in the US, from hot deserts to arctic frost. Thanks to immigration from all over the world, the US is probably the most multicultural country on the planet. Thus it has the ideal conditions for producing internationally recognized wine.
