GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / AMONG THE VINES – I’ve been on a sharp learning curve with Merlot wines. Let me share the experience with you.
Judging a competition versus wine-tasting as a writer
Juding at the Mondial du Merlot in April 2013Judging a wine competition is completely different from the blind tastings to which journalists are invited. For the Mondial du Merlot I did both. Here’s my take on what this tells us about judging a good Merlot for ourselves.
A well-run wine competition is as objective as you can get with what is essentially a very subjective business – do we or do we not love this wine? A table of five judges is presided by an oenologist because we need their expertise, their experience about how wines are made, technically.
The majority of the judges at each table are oenologists by training, so a judgement about the technical correctness of the wines remains uppermost. Is a wine clean – no faults such as oxidized or vegetal? Is it balanced, with the fruit and acidity in harmony? Forget about blueberry and hazelnut descriptions, for these are the domain of wine writers, who are also judges, but who leave these sensory descriptions behind for a competition.
Personal favourites from a post-competition blind tasting
My personal notes on our one very strong gold medal show me leaving the sensible technical world behind for a moment to say I was in love – with the fruit-rich nose, the unfolding richness of the wine in mouth, the long finish, the velvety texture. But I had no idea what wine it was, for it arrived clothed in black, no label, no indication of what part of the world it came from. I still don’t know which wine it was!
Beyond that, out of the 45 or so wines tasted in a morning several were middle of the road and then some stunning ones promptly stood out and became gold or silver medal winners. Rarely did the judges at the table disagree, and we note the wines individually, without discussion, at least initially. When there is a real discrepancy, we have a brief discussion to better understandy why.
All the greater, then, was my pleasure in Zurich Tuesday, tasting the winners, with not a weak one among them!
I took part in a blind tasting and discussion among wine writers and professionals (mainly retailers, wholesalers) of 11 wines, followed by a post-ceremony outdoor lunch with all the award-winning wines available for tasting, with Vinea’s guests, including the winning producers, invited.
The blind tasting: four countries, one year
Judges at the Mondial du Merlot, after the competition: a visit to the Sierre “bourgeoisie” private cellarThe first four wines were all 2011, but from different countries. My personal favourite was the fourth, from Languedoc in France, and it turns out this won the prize for the best “foreign” (non-Swiss) Merlot. The nose is remarkable for its fresh fruit notes. In mouth it has good structure, with the fruit enveloping the mouth as it unfolds, and a lovely finish. An Austrian journalist enthused that this, of the four wines, was the one where you would happily have a second bottle. A New World journalist who lives in Europe preferred number 3, from Romania, an impressive wine that I found velvety, and with spices that made me wonder if it was a blend with Syrah.
A Belgian journalist dismissed all but the Turkish wine, the only one he felt was really up to the job because the oak was not apparent. Northern European taste?
I also very much liked the first wine, but you always have your doubts with the first one served, especially if you’ve just rushed from the train and haven’t quite settled down to the job of tasting. It is a beauty: Barrique 2011 from the Angelrath winery in Neuchatel: cherries, jammy fruit, great depth to the fruit, with a medium to long finish. A powerful, elegant wine that deserved its title as judges’ favourite.
Different vintages
We sampled four wines of different vintages. My preference, far and way, was the 2011 Tamborini wine that was named best of the competition. It has wonderful notes of chocolate, cocoa, and toast, but with fruit, notably berries, always present. The mouth was drier than I expected, with tannins that will benefit from opening the bottle in advance. This is a classy, complex wine with the oak well integrated.
The marketing manager from the winery later told us that it is made from a very strict grape selection, 600 g per square metre, and it spends six to eight months in new American and French oak. Americans should love this wine, while some Europeans might find it a little too oaky.
Our fourth wine was a 2005 from Piedmont in Italy. It was the most classic, very elegant with good structure, and yet still young and complex. A beauty: Le Vigne Di Ca Nova, “Riverboro Langhe DOC Rosso”.
And then the serial vintages
Wine competitions tend to seek out the winning individual bottles, which is of course what the consumer is usually after. One good wine.
But in an age of standardization and internationalization of wines, as Daniel Dufour, president of the Swiss Oenologists Association says, it’s important to reward winemakers who can show their mastery of making fine wine from one year to the next. These are not recipe wines, designed to taste identical from one year to the next for the average supermarket buyer, but wines that respect the life of the grape.
A Swiss journalist said of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 wines we tasted from Pierre-Maurice Carruzzo et fils in Valais that “we see the same style – he doesn’t force the grape but tries to valorize as best he can the grape variety.”
The result is a beautiful 2005, with dark fruits, especially prunes, violets, well integrated in mouth and with a long finish. The 2006 was less impressive, but when I spoke to the winemaker later he said wrote it off to a lesser vintage. But by 2007 the grapes were giving their best again. So don’t expect identical wines from good winemakers, year in and year out, but do expect quality, with differences that accept nature’s variable bounty.
Left to my own devices, my personal recommendations
Outside the awards ceremony, in the sunshine at the Metropol in Zurich, I was free to sample the winning wines. Here are the Swiss Merlots I’m personally happy recommending (in addition to those mentioned abvoe), including at least one wine near you. I’d suggest you try any of the gold and silver Swiss winners, though, to find your own favourites.Cantini
- Geneva, Cave des Baillets, Jean Mallet, “Merlot Genève”2011, softer and rounder, less acidic than some of the others, fruit less forward, but elegant and clean
- Valais, Adrian & Diego Mathier, Nouveau Salquenen, “Merlot Nadi Mathier”, 2011 (also the 2010)
- Valais, Les Fils de Charles Favre, Patrice Walpen, “Merlot Collection F barrique” 2009
- Vaud, Domaine Bovy, Vincent & Eric Bovy, “Merlot Reverentia”, Dézaley Grand Cru 2010
- Ticino, Cantini Monti, Malcontane Rosso dei Ronchi, “Rosso del Ticino” 2010
- Ticino, Fattoria Moncucchetto, Lisetta LUcchini, “Moncucchtto, Ticino Merlot 2011”