Merlot

This comes from a marvellous Grand Cru property managed by Alan Vauthier, co-owner of Ch. Ausone. Predominantly Merlot, it is a benchmark Saint-Emilion; the nose rich with Bramble fruit, mocha and vanilla, while the palate is silky and full-bodied. Drink now or over the next two years. A perfect match for roast lamb or rib of beef.
Max Lalondrelle, Wine Buyer

This is a predominantly Merlot-based wine from a small Grand Cru property managed by one of the best winemakers on the Right Bank, Alain Vauthier. The nose is classic St Emilion, showing rich bramble fruit with a hint of chocolate and vanilla. The palate is enticingly soft and rounded, with generous fruit and warmth. The superb quality of the 2016 vintage shines through here. A perfect match for roast lamb or beef
Max Lalondrelle, Wine Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd

Ch. Feytit-Clinet has been making our own Pomerol for many years, and they have excelled with this vintage. It’s deeply coloured with a dark, glossy appearance and a terrific nose of ripe, bramble fruit, black cherry and mocha. There is a luxurious depth and richness to the fruit here – decadent Merlot in all its glory. Delicious now (with a shoulder of lamb), this will also cellar well for a year or two.
Max Lalondrelle, Wine Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd

Ronan by is a firm favourite with our customers, and with good reason. The stunning 2015 vintage is more generous, with glossier fruit than previous years. This vintage is rich, the nose appealing and immediate with ripe black cherry, cocoa and seductive sweet spices. The palate is classically structured, a full frame of smoky, dark cherry-skin tannins, rounded by a modern, fruit-forward palate. Loaded with damsons, this 100% Merlot is vibrant and charming. The finish is long and plush with a seasoning of white pepper. Beautiful on its own, this will give even more pleasure with a roast crown of duck. Drink now to 2022.
Davy Zyw, Wine Buyer (July 2019)

Ch. Laroque is a large St Emilion estate famous for its stunning 18th century château, as well as the quality of its wines. It is owned by the Beaumartin family and was granted Grand Cru Classé status in 1996. Its 61 hectares of vineyards (27 of which are used for the Grand Vin) are situated in the commune of St Christophe des Bardes and it produces nearly 25,000 cases a year.

From the cool, classic 2014 vintage, this Claret is fresh and balanced. The blend is Merlot-based and the wine is aged in French oak barrels for 12 months, giving a nice aroma of spice and wood smoke. The palate is fleshy with a hint of plum, the tannins fine and firm, leading to a generous finish. Drink now to 2029.

This is one of the very few `wow' wines in 2007 with a jaw-dropping concentration, exotic richness and complexity that mark it out as one of the wines of the vintage. The 15% Cabernet Franc (along with 85% Merlot) has bestowed this Conseillante with a stunning, elegantly floral nose of blackcurrant coulis and spice. The palate is even better, with sumptuous creamy blackberries, raspberry sorbet and a lovely minerality all supported by substantial velvety tannins. Aristocratic, feminine and irresistible, this will happily age for more than 15 years. So when should you drink it? That's easy: as often as possible.

Simply irresistible. Well, possibly, if the price can be controlled! This is really sumptuous and pure. Hedonistic is not an adjective I have used often this year. Words like “firm”  “grip” “structure” “tannic pile-up” are more scattered over the 350 or so wines we tried. This however is the antitheses of words like that. If this can come in at around £600 per case, bite its arm off. Fingers crossed.
(Simon Staples, Berrys’ Fine Wine Director)

Lucid in color, it has a quintessential L'Eglise-Clinet bouquet with blackberry, raspberry coulis, liquid minerals and hints of iris and incense. The palate is very precise and crisp, some of the finest tannins that you will encounter in Pomerol, tensile right from the beginning, taut and linear with immense precision towards the extended mineral-soaked finish. This is nothing less than a brilliant wine from Denis Durantou, undoubtedly one of the stars of the vintage.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate #230, April 2017

Ch. Pavie occupies some of the best terroir in all of Bordeaux. The vineyards sweep up the steep slope and onto the plateau that rises high to the right of you as you enter St Emilion town from the southern plain. Bought in 1998 by Gérard Perse, he gave the property as high a level of attention and passion as he did to amassing a fortune from supermarkets. The wines entered a controversial period when, under the guidance of Michel Rolland, yields were slashed and the wines became super concentrated and super intense. This achieved 100-point scores from Robert Parker and the coveted “Premier Grand Cru Classé (A)” grade, but at the possible expense of the property’s magnificent terroir.

The 2016 vintage has seen a marked shift back to making a wine that is less extracted and which will be aged in less punishingly new oak. The proportion of Merlot has been reduced and the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon raised. The 2016 itself is inky deep in colour and slow to come through on the palate, although the expressions eventually work their way through, revealing plum fruits, enticing notes of spice and gentle hints of leather. The close is dense and tannic, yet the fruit persists and is accessible; promising a wine that is altogether more amenable to some of the supercharged wines of Perse’s earlier years. It will be drinking that bit sooner and it undoubtedly gives more of the vineyard itself. Drink 2024-2040.

Ch. Pavie’s 2009 is a rich style of Merlot wine with a huge concentration. Well balanced and well made with pretty blackcurrant fruit and supple tannins, this is the best Ch. Pavie we’ve tasted in years.

Fantastic aromas of lavender, rosemary, violets and currants. Full body, a wonderful concentration of fruit yet tense and taunt energy. The new wood is exposed now but will become integrated and polished. Give it three or four years together. The pure merlot magic is there. The 2011 was a perfect wine, and this is very close indeed. Drink in 2019.
99/100 James Suckling, Wine Advocate

Masseto, produced by Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, is among the world’s most sought after Merlots. It comes from one of Italy’s most celebrated 7 hectare plots of Merlot in Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast where the vines grow on an outcrop of pliocene clay (ideal for Merlot and not found elsewhere in Bolgheri). Its first full release was 1987, although there was a partial release in 1986, and it quickly became a cult wine revered by collectors. The 2012 vintage is a year that has produced many outstanding wines in the Super Tuscan arena and Masseto looks sure to continue that trend

Made in tiny quantities.  Despite having only debuted back in 1986, Masseto has almost taken on the mystique we see with the likes of Ch. Petrus – rare, expensive, ground breaking and much sought after. Total production is circa. 2500 cases

The Italian equivelant of the finest Pomerol. This Merlot dominated wine from Antinori has an opulence and concentration of fruit rarely found outside Bordeaux. The layers of rich, creamy, smokey, fat fruit make this a truely headonistic wine.