[wine] Not Exactly Sideways at JP's

Greetings and Salutations, We're doing something unusual this week. MERLOT. Going to JP's. The discussion and formulation went something like this. It was at/near the end of our Burgundy tasting, and the Duck was fantastic, but the wines were mixed.... Brgndy, when it's on, is incomparable. But the fickle grape is less than consistant, reliable, etc. Short version: High expectations, frequent dissappointment, occasional ecstasy. Now for something completely different.... We rarely do merlot, but when we do, we are usually very pleasantly suprised.... Karin had been to JP's, and Karl was/is/always_has_been eager to host the Thursday group. JP's American Bistro JP Samuelson Karl, Cheryl 2937 S. Lyndale 55408 (612) 824-9300 Yes/Guess: Betsy Bill Bob Lori Russ/Sue Jim Warren/Ruth Assumed Yes/Not on line: Nicolai Roger Cheers, Jim October 27, 2004 WINES OF THE TIMES A Welcome Drop in the Ocean By ERIC ASIMOV FROM a marketer's point of view, California merlot was the great industry success story of the 1980's and 90's. From almost nowhere 25 years ago, merlot achieved the dream status of becoming a generic term for red wine. "I'll just have a glass of merlot," became the default at-a-loss order at bars, restaurants, weddings and bar mitzvahs, the way in earlier years, "I'll just have a glass of chardonnay," meant give me white wine, any white wine. Is this mere snobbery? Or to put it another way, is it the quality of merlot that has been diluted, or its status? To take on the question, the Dining section's wine panel tasted 25 California merlots. We decided to give merlot its best shot, choosing to taste wines only from the Napa Valley, California's prime source for Bordeaux grapes like merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Plenty of merlot comes from Napa, but most California merlot comes from the vast Central Valley, from Lodi south to Bakersfield, an area that is to Napa as agribusiness is to the family farm. This is the stuff that is shipped by tanker, pumped by hose and packaged in things like airline splits and gallon bag-in-a-box containers. It doesn't have to be bad, but it usually is. The Napa Valley, on the other hand, prides itself on the quality of its wines, and prices many of them accordingly. In an effort to spread out the pricing, we tasted 8 bottles that cost $25 or less, 10 between $25 and $50 and 7 costing more than $50. My colleague Florence Fabricant and I were joined by two guests, Christopher Shipley, wine director of the "21" Club, and Scott Mayger, wine director of WD-50. Of course, we all had feelings about California merlot, which we put aside as best we could. Mr. Mayger expressed the most positive view. He said that merlot's silky tannins and jammy flavors made it a good steakhouse wine. Having been the wine buyer in a steakhouse back in the late 1980's and early 90's, when merlot's popularity took off, he has tasted plenty of it. "I couldn't find enough merlot to buy," he said. He added that the character of California merlot has changed since then, becoming firmer and more tannic. I confess that I've never had much use for California merlot. Merlot is no doubt an important grape, but as a wine it always seemed to have little reason for being. What makes merlot important is its role in the classic Bordeaux blend of grapes. In the M�doc, it almost always plays a secondary role to cabernet sauvignon, generally adding soft tannins and generous flavors to the more austere cabernet. Merlot plays a greater part in the blend in St.-�milion and Pomerol, where with some exceptions . most notably Ch�teau P�trus, which is 99 percent merlot . it usually accounts for maybe 40 to 70 percent of the blend. This is significant because in California a wine can be labeled with the name of a grape only if that grape makes up at least 75 percent of the wine. Why would California insist on making a wine primarily of merlot when in Bordeaux few wines short of a P�trus would presume to do the same? It's not because increasing the percentage of merlot makes a better wine, but because it means that the wine can be sold under the varietal name. In other words, the merlot category is defined by marketing rather than winemaking. Having said this, we did find some enjoyable wines. Our top wine, a '99 from Liparita Cellars for $40, was bright and balanced, with good structure. Mr. Mayger called it the most Bordeaux-like of the wines. Our best value, a 2000 from St. Sup�ry for $18, was likewise balanced, with attractive fruit, herbal and oak flavors, while our No. 3, an '01 Starmont from Merryvale, was concentrated, with attractive coffee flavors. If only wines like those were the rule. Too often, the merlots showed bitter vegetal flavors or candylike sweetness, or were overwhelmed by oak. Ms. Fabricant divided the 25 wines into two categories: those with complexity that were well made and enjoyable to drink, and those that were one-dimensional and washed out, perhaps made from grapes that lacked concentration. Mr. Shipley, too, found washed-out wine. Even the more concentrated wines, he said, suffered from over-manipulation at the hands of winemakers. Too many, for example, tasted as if acid had been added to make up for what the grapes lacked in natural acidity. Only two of the seven wines priced at over $50 made the cut, the smallest percentage of any price category. The most expensive bottle in the tasting, a $72 2000 Duckhorn, one of the big names in Napa merlot, was rejected unanimously. It could be that we did not taste the best choices. Merlots like Beringer's Bancroft Ranch and Pahlmeyer are considered top-notch, but are superexpensive and hard to find. Or perhaps Napa and the rest of California are not the best sources of American merlot. I've had merlots from Washington State that showed firmness and character. Or maybe it comes down to marketing. In an effort to appeal to a new and fast-growing market for merlot, too many winemakers planted merlot in the wrong places and made poorly conceived wines. The market for merlot may now have peaked. The number of acres planted with merlot continues to grow in Napa, according to the California Agricultural Statistics Service, but not so quickly. If anything, California merlot has become a cautionary tale. It is not enough to plant vines willy-nilly to appeal to a growing market. Getting in on the act is not a formula for making good wine. Take heed, California syrah makers. Tasting Report: Some of the Best of a Dubious Lot Liparita Cellars Napa Valley 1999 $40 ** 1/2 Appealing berry flavors, well balanced with oak and tannins; some depth and structure. BEST VALUE St. Sup�ry Napa Valley 2000 $18 ** 1/2 Smoky flavors of cherries, chocolate and eucalyptus; soft tannins. Merryvale Napa Valley Starmont 2001 $25 ** Bright cherry and chocolate flavors, with coffee aromas and pleasing texture. Niebaum-Coppola Rutherford 2000 $44 ** Big and oaky, with dense, concentrated fruit flavors. Selene Wines Napa Valley 2001 $52 ** Good structure; needs exposure to air to reveal fruit flavors. Shafer Vineyards Napa Valley 2001 $46 * 1/2 Flavors of smoky fruit and bell peppers; standard issue. Hartwell Vineyards 2001 Stags Leap District $60 * 1/2 Balanced, with plum, chocolate and mint flavor, but very sweet. Joseph Phelps Vineyards 2000 Napa Valley $40 * 1/2 Shiny character, with flavors of chocolate, mint and cherry Life Savers. Cosentino Winery 2000 Napa Valley Reserve $38 * 1/2 Smooth, with mint aromas and candied fruit flavors. Clos Pegase Napa Valley 2000 $25 * 1/2 Simple and fruity, with pleasingly round texture. -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *