Decanterberry Tales - A Willamette Valley Wine Blog - merlot tag

Chateau Takeda, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:28:26 GMT

Boy, here's something you don't see everyday: wine from Japan. And no silly, I don't mean sake. I mean real, honest-to-goodness red wine. In this case, it's a Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon mix (the label doesn't specify the ratio). It appears that the alcohol is 11% -- pretty low. Funny to see Japanese on the back label, and then "Mis en bouteilles au chateau" on the front (basically, "it's bottled at the chateau" in French). Temples: yes. Shrines: check. Castles? Yep. And now, apparently there are chateaus in Japan too!

To start, this wine had a great nose. Vanilla. Licorice (maybe anise). Dust. Pepper. Bark. Currant. And no chemical smell at all. Just lovely aromas. The body was medium (about the equivalent of 2% milk). The taste was plum, and a bit of a Nectarine -- but without the citrus. I mean without any strong acid taste. That, with under-currents of red cherry and cayenne. It then finished just slightly lighter than expected (but not in a bad), with red cherry, and cayenne. All very subtle.

This wine was really smooth. It had a lighter finish, and was no that overly oaked and creamy. It wasn't at all sweet, and it finished with just the right amount of dryness for my tastes. I am really impressed with this considering how long it usually takes to produce high quality wines. Though, honestly, I'm not sure how long they've been at this endeavor, but I would guess that it's safe to say that the Japanese -- at least generally speaking -- are new to making wine (at least out of grapes).

Cost:

Rating: 8.5

Arrowood, Grand Archer, Merlot, 2000

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 01:45:51 GMT

This is a wine that our sister-in-law had purchased years ago, and we had it following the Chateauneuf-du-Pape for our Thnksgiving feast. Being an Oregonian, it was hard to want to like this commercial California wine. But I have to admit, this wine knocked the doors off the CndP we had preceeding it (though, to be fair, it was one of the poorest CndPs I've had). Anyway, this was not that. And, honestly, it was nice.

The nose was vanilla, and a strong river rock smell. Later, the nose got a bit more funky: cayenne, tobacco, prune, smoky, raisin, and white pepper. The taste was prune and tobacco. Really strong smoke, sort of like Grandpa's pipe. Denise went off on this. She described it like a "thick button down sweater by the fire place hearth". The finish was also tobacco and prune, and a little raisin to boot.

All-in-all, this was the favorite of the night.

Cost:

Rating: 8.5

Christian Moueix, Bordeaux, 2005

Mon, 26 May 2008 03:07:00 GMT

Here's another one in our "decent (and cheap) table wine" series. Really smooth for such a cheap wine. Certainly not "great", but definitely easy to drink. All that for $8. Not bad.

Smell: Nectarine, straw, yeast, baked bread, cucumber and green bean.

Taste: Prune, black cherry, huckleberry, pomegranate. Wood. Celery and lettuce.

Finish: Prune and cherries. Peaches (very subtle). Green bean!

Cost:

Rating: 6.5

Barnard Griffin, 'Columbia Valley', Merlot, 2005

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 02:00:00 GMT

Smell: Oak, wood, vanilla and a bit of cedar.

Taste: Blackberry, cherry, prune, plum and mellow pepper. Very soft flavors.

Finish: Plum. Very soft and smooth.

Cost:

Rating: 7.0