Black fruit forward medium bodied bold wine.
WINE DETAILS:
- Grape: Merlot
- Alcohol: 13.5%
- Wine: Gnarly Head
- Vintage: 2016
- Winery: Gnarly Head
- Location: Central Coast, California, US
- Date: 1/19/21
- Distributor: Plaza Cellars
Curious Synonyms: Bidal, Brabutet, Lecchumskij, Petit Merle, Picard, Semillon Rouge, Vitraille
Nerd Alert: The earliest recorded mention of Merlot (under the synonym of Merlau) was in the notes of a local Bordeaux official who in 1784 labeled wine made from the grape in the Libournais region as one of the area’s best. In the late 1990s, researchers at University of California, Davis showed that Merlot is an offspring of Cabernet Franc and is a half-sibling of Carménère, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. The second parent is colloquially known as Madeleina or Raisin de La Madeleine due to its propensity to be fully ripe and ready for harvest around the July 22nd feast day of Mary Magdalene. In the US, following the “Merlot wine craze” of the 1990s sparked by 60 Minutes French Paradox report, sales of Merlot spiked with the grape hitting its peak plantings of over 20,640 hectares (51,000 acres) in 2004 (Same year of “the movie”).
Personal Note: I don’t know why I don’t drink more Merlot. Maybe I had one too many bad samples. I know it wasn’t for that stupid movie line (I mean seriously, who does that?). I guess we just never clicked.
There’s quite a list of names of Merlot’s for me to pick. On the one hand this is a long list of wines and I can’t always be picking $100 bottles otherwise I’d need to get a 2nd mortgage on my home. On the other hand, this brand means something to me. My first Merlot AND Zinfandel, where Gnarly Head. I was a wine noob and I went to a big yearly ‘wine experience’ from a major distributor. As I traveled the tables, the sales rep for Gnarly was very kind and took her time and we talked a while and you know, those things matter. That’s how you create bonds with brands…with the people. Quality is important of course, but in our humanity is were we engage. Otherwise Alexa and Siri would do all sales. All that being said, if Chateau Petrus feels like sponsoring
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*Sources for the wine facts are from: Wine Searcher, Wikipedia, Vivino, wine.com, and the wineries websites.
