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Tasting Wine: Encouraging words about merlot
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SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - In the last five years, merlot has become a pariah grape. It was bashed in “Sideways,” shunned by wine geeks (not all, to be fair) and supplanted by pinot noir as the new “must drink” wine grape.
I do understand the merlot backlash. The truth is, in the early and mid 1990s when merlot started to come on strong, it was viewed by many as being a kind of “cabernet light.” Full-bodied with some though not all of the same flavors as cabernet sauvignon, it is inherently less tannic, making for a smoother ride on the palate.
The problem, then, was that some folks started to make merlot as if it were cabernet sauvignon, doing whatever they could to extract tannin. Others chose another route of just accentuating the fruit, making innocuous yet boring versions of the wine.
While Havens and a few others have always made merlot that has distinction, the idea of a California merlot with a distinct personality was never fully realized.
I’ve tried several merlots during the last few months that are encouraging. Here are some of my favorites:
Stubbs Merlot, 2005 (Marin County): Organically made in west Marin, this wine is a very unexpected surprise. Medium-bodied with plump berry, plum fruits, a little spice and bright acidity, it is hugely pleasant. The irony here is that winemaker Dan Goldfield is well-known for his expertise with pinot noir and indeed, Stubbs pinot noir is very enjoyable. For me, though, the merlot is the more intriguing wine. Suggested retail: $32
Cafaro Cellars “Emily Elizabeth” Merlot, 2004 (Napa Valley): Joe Cafaro started Cafaro Cellars in 1986 and 10 years later purchased and planted his own vineyard south of the Stags’ Leap district. Named after his daughter, this wine is full-bodied yet not overbearing with black fruits, a hint of unsweetened chocolate, spicy oak and firm acidity. Suggested retail: $22
Rancho Sisquoc Merlot, Flood Family Vineyards, 2005 (Santa Barbara County): This understated producer on the central coast puts out some of the most interesting wines (i.e. eclectic with good quality) in California, and the merlot is tried and true. With aromas of chocolate-covered cherries, vanilla and notes of cedar, plum and dark berry fruit, it’s not flashy, but it grabs attention. Suggested retail: $20
Pamela S. Busch is the wine director and proprietor of CAV Wine Bar & Kitchen in San Francisco.
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nancy orr said:
Prosecco is made in Italy not Burgundy. Thanks
2 agree | 1 disagree
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Ron Walter said:
I agree that the 4/21 response to my comment shows restaurant wine pricing isn't simple and is something I hadn't considered. While your example demonstrates a retail pricing problem, I don't see it as a good parallel to a restaurant's wine pricing - no restaurant carries 500 different types of wine with a 2000% difference in minimum and maximum price (if anyone has an $8 cheapo a 2000% difference would have a top price of $16,000 - not even a bottle of 45 Lafite). Also, I think the problem could be simpler when there is a cross the board price change for a significant amount of the merchandise - as there is when the $ devalues against the Euro - the problem described in the column. That said, I don't have an answer as to how to price wine. Still, it's grating to hear pricing explained the way Ms. Bush has explained it - there should be a fairer way. If I'm reacting this way, my guess is that it's turning off more diners than just me.
4 agree | 4 disagree
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Ron Walter said:
I agree that the 4/21 response to my comment shows restaurant wine pricing isn't simple and is something I hadn't considered. While your example demonstrates a retail pricing problem, I don't see it as a good parallel to a restaurant's wine pricing - no restaurant carries 500 different types of wine with a 2000% difference in minimum and maximum price (if anyone has an $8 cheapo a 2000% difference would have a top price of $16,000 - not even a bottle of 45 Lafite). Also, I think the problem could be simpler when there is a cross the board price change for a significant amount of the merchandise - as there is when the $ devalues against the Euro - the problem described in the column. That said, I don't have an answer as to how to price wine. Still, it's grating to hear pricing explained the way Ms. Bush has explained it - there should be a fairer way. If I'm reacting this way, my guess is that it's turning off more diners than just me.
4 agree | 3 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Regarding Ron Walters' comments on wine mark-ups: while this wholesale-times-2.5 seems illogical in your example, a broader look at retailing might help clarify. Say I sell 500 individual items in the course of a day in my shop, and they cost (wholesale, to me) between $.25 and $50 each. Now, say I know from creating my quarterly budgets that I need a 30% gross profit to cover all my costs -- purchases, labor, overhead, capital improvements. How long would I last if I marked each item up $5, regardless of cost? And I don't know what calculation would arrive at that $5 anyway. No, markup by percent is the only sensible way...and some restaurateurs do use a combination of (lower)percentage, and fixed add-on, to give increasing relative value to buyers of higher priced bottles.
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Examiner Reader said:
i have tried Monte dei Ragni Ripasso and their Amarone, after 1/2 an hour it was still on the palate....just outstanding. a real gem if you can find it...
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Examiner Reader said:
The best Ripasso i have tasted is "Fratelli Vogadori", it's very good wine. Very strong and better than other more know Ripasso
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Ron Walter said:
Dear Ms. Bush I'm stunned by the logic in 'Tasting Wine: The business of the wine business'. Why must the correspondent (wine buyer) always multiply the wholesale cost * 2.5 to arrive at the client's cost? A simple example: the wholesale cost rises by $3 for a wine currently priced in the restaurant at $50; the new price could be $53. I'd like to understand how that has affected the restaurant's bottom line? This seems logic seems similar to a real estate agent demanding a 6% commission when selling two houses - one for $300,000 and the other $3,000,000 - you should demand much more in the latter case or ask for a lower commission. Is your restaurant doing something special for the client with their additional $7.50 markup in the previous example?
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Examiner Reader said:
One would think the author, in an effort to retain her credibility, would check the spelling of the late Joe Swan's son-in-law. All through this article, his name is spelled incorrectly. It should be "Berglund." The author has, at least, included three wines in keeping with the theme of the article: wines of the Joseph Swan winery. ((Last week's article featured wines from France's Rhone Valley and, curiously, one was from the Joseph Swan winery in Sonoma!)) Why the author would review the same wine in back-to-back articles is a mystery. A professor of journalism would cite misspellings as diminishing the credibility of an article. Ms. Busch does so by, as she did last week, spelling "Vacqueyras" incorrectly. Interesting, the price of the "mystery red" is different in this week's article in comparison with last week's!
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Examiner Reader said:
The article regarding Tawny Ports mentions a lovely wine from the house of Ferreira, but "Duque" is spelled incorrectly. At least she got Dow spelled correctly (although the brand name on the label is "Dow's."
132 agree | 86 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Pamela Busch is marvelously enthusiastic as a wine-taster, but she's a poor writer and terribly sloppy in checking her work. This week's column regarding Rhone reds asserts that Syrah is the only grape grown in the northern Rhone Valley. Two sentences later readers are told that Northern Rhone Syrahs sometimes have white grapes in them! She claims to be "sticking" to Southern Rhones for the article and one wine comes from California's Sonoma County. Readers are advised to buy a wine from the Gramenon estate called "La Segasse," but the actual wine is "La Sagesse." Ms. Busch refers to an appellation in the Southern Rhone, misspelling the name "Vacqueyras." These little errors should not be made by a professional journalist. A course in writing would certainly be helpful in polishing her skills. Paying more attention to the details would also be a good idea.
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Examiner Reader said:
Dear Readers, I left a message hear yesterday. It was not deragatory and was written in proper English regarding the topic of the above article. One can only assume since my opinion was not the same as the author's that my comment has been deleted. While I truly do hope it is a computer glich, I find myself lowering my expectations after this happened. Best of luck to all of you on this website.
192 agree | 158 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Why go to Austria, Germany, and Spain for Pinot Noir? We have kick butt Pinot in our own backyard! There are so many beautifully produced wines from the Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Rita Hills or Russian River. If anything tell this writer to find me more hidden secrets like Testarossa, Seasmoke (ok not so secret), and P&H.
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sue yu said:
vin rose is nothing, it's more of dinner wine that's light. i'm not sure if it was ever really popular. when you drink wine, you want to taste the bouquet, and certainly get a big punch out of it. drinking without the punchies is not worth it.
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