2002 Franciscan Oakville Estate Merlot

Region: Napa Valley
Country: U.S.A
Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: €19,95 (on sale from 39.00)
Closure: Cork

Since the movie Sideways, merlot has certainly come across some tough times (especially in the U.S.A). Miles, one of the major characters in the movie Sideways, gives wines produced from the grape an extremely hard time. "If anyone orders merlot, I'm leaving. I am not drinking any fucking merlot." was probably his most famous line in the film. As a result merlot sales plummeted (mostly in the U.S.A I might add).

There is not doubt that there is plenty of poor to average merlot being produced (as per wine from pretty much any other grape variety). However, it should be noted that some of the worlds most sort-after, and costly wines are also made from the varietal. One only needs to think of the great wines from the Pomerol in Bordeaux such as Chateau Petrus and Chateau Le Pin. I just wish more people would trust their own palate rather than follow a trend started by a bleeding movie.

Anyway, this wine is a merlot and is produced by the Franciscan Winery which was founded in 1972 by a group of lawyers and doctors from San Francisco who decided to try turning their passion for wine into a business. The wine is a blend of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon. Here is my note:

Dark, dark red/purple in colour moving more to brick-red at the edges. Powerful nose initially quite funky sweet medicinal though it settles down nicely to reveal plenty of ripe, sweet cherry and black berry fruit. Good mouth-feel with plenty of intense curranty, black berry / cherry fruit. Initially little evidence of oak, but the finish shows a lot of drying, chalky tannins that really dominate the finish way too much which in my view ruins the wine.

2002 Hess Cabernet Sauvignon

Country: U.S.A.
Region: Napa Valley
Alcohol: 14.5%
Price: €11.99 (50% discount)

Hess Estate was established by Donald Hess in 1985. Hess inherited his Swiss families beer business in his 20's which he set about converting into a water business. Looking to further expand his water business, Donald arrived in the Napa valley and was immediately impressed by the quality of the wines produced.

Donald then proceded to procure his first vineyards on Mount Veeder called Veeder Hills. Over the corresponding eight years more vineyards at Mt Veeder, Veeder Crest, Veeder Summit and La Salle were purchased.

From the very beginning Donald Hess was looking to produce a product of high quality. A quote from the website illustrates this:

"From the beginning, my philosophy for new business development has been to deal only in natural products. Over the past twenty-three years of the Hess Collection's existance, I patiently stuck to this belief and strove to offer great value at the paragon of quality."

Hess has built up a reputation for high quality, good value wines across all product lines going a long to achieving this paragon of quality. Here is my tasting note:

Fantastic deep red, purple in colour. Typical Cabernet nose with plenty of dark cherry fruit and hints of mint and french oak. Open, generous new world style with upfront dark berry fruit and some vanilla. Well balanced despite the massive 14.5% alcohol with fine, grippy tannins and good acid. While quite chunky its not huge or over-the-top though it does lack a little on the finish. All-in-all an impressive wine.