Unfortunately, Merlot has gotten a ‘bad wrap’, often attributed to the Oscar-award winning movie, Sideways, and the resulting Sideways Effect. Truth be told, Merlot sales did fall off and Pinot Noir sales did increase after this movie hit the theaters.
If you can put aside the fictional movie’s assessment of wine varietals, Merlot has lots to offer with its flavors and aromas of blackberry, cassis, black cherries, plums, chocolate, mocha and leather. The most popular Merlots come from the right bank in Bordeaux, France (Pomerol, St. Emillion) – where there are cooler temperatures and limestone soil – as well as from Chile and California.
I suggest a Chilean Merlot from Concha y Toro. Thanksgiving 2013, I traveled down to Chile (and Argentina) and stayed in Curico with Ruth, the head chef for Concha y Toro, at her beautiful resort, Mapuyampay Hostal Gastronomico, where I learned to cook traditional Chilean dishes paired with wine. Six months a year Ruth and her partner, Vicente, (pictured below) host guests at Mapuyampay serving all sorts of culinary delicacies and teaching cooking classes. The other six months (Chile’s winter), Concha y Toro sends Chef Ruth all over the world to prepare food and wine paired dinners for high-end guests.
Merlots typically pair well with:
Olive Tapenade
