About this WINE
Merlot
The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.
In St.Emilion and Pomerol it withstands the moist clay rich soils far better than Cabernet grapes, and at it best produces opulently rich, plummy clarets with succulent fruitcake-like nuances. Le Pin, Pétrus and Clinet are examples of hedonistically rich Merlot wines at their very best. It also plays a key supporting role in filling out the middle palate of the Cabernet-dominated wines of the Médoc and Graves.
Merlot is now grown in virtually all wine growing countries and is particularly successful in California, Chile and Northern Italy.
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Description
The Max Merlot (sounds like the name of a tabloid recidivist) vines are located in the cool Aconcagua Valley, plots Max 1 and Max 4, for those who crave such details. Decomposed granite is a feature common to the soils of both.
The wine has been vinified in stainless steel and then matured for 12 months in French barrels, of which 35% are, or rather were, new. The characteristic plum and charcoal notes of Chilean Merlot are complemented by hints of clove and eucalypt on the one hand, back cherry and myrtle on the other. Pleasingly complex.
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer)
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