We wanted to try a merlot from Chile, and the local wine shop has a selection of imported wines in a nook at the back, including some from Chile. Unfortunately, when we went in and had a look, everything from Chile was either malbec or carménère. I didn’t remember anything about these varietals from my reading, so we asked the woman at the counter what they were like. I figured she’d have a good idea, but alas she had no experience with these wines and could only give us an, “I think they’re a bit like cab sav.”
I thought this was a bit disappointing for someone working in a specialty wine shop (as opposed to a more generic liquor shop, this place doesn’t sell beer or spirits, just wines). The upshot was we decided not to risk it this time and went for a merlot from Western Australia instead. There’s a lot of choice if you stick within Australia, so we semi-randomly grabbed this one, sitting in the middle of the price range.
Evans & Tate is a fairly big name brand in wines, and a gold medal – albeit as specialised as “best dry merlot” in the Royal Queensland Wine Show – promised it should be reasonable. We had it with a meal from a local Indian restaurant, with which it went reasonably well.
I have to say I’m finding it difficult to pull specific taste notes out of red wines in isolation – without contrasting styles of wine to compare against. I sniff, and then swill it around in my mouth, searching for a name to assign to the flavour, and I have trouble getting past “fruit” to anything more specific. I think this one had an aroma of cherries mixed in there, and honestly the only flavour note I got out of it apart from “fruity red wine” was a hint of liquorice at the end. It was pleasant, but nothing astounding.
More practice needed!
