Wall Street Journal sees magic in Merlot

Food & Drink -- Tastings: Merlot Makes a Comeback --- After greedy vintners largely ruined the popular varietal, a tasting of inexpensive wines shows new promise. By Dorothy J. Gaiter, John Brecher. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Mar 14, 2009. pg. W.4

Having tasted more than 50 Merlots...
Our best of tasting, which we found classy and vibrant, was Charles Krug. This was an interesting result because, just a few months ago, in a tasting of "Costco Cabernets" -- widely distributed U.S. Cabernet Sauvignon that is sold at Costco and Sam's Club -- our favorite was Charles Krug. In a 2005 tasting of American Sauvignon Blanc, Charles Krug tied for our best of tasting. It's clear that this historic Napa winery, better known for jug wines and simple table wines than fine wines for many years, deserves a closer look. The winery says it made 13,194 cases of this Merlot and it was distributed nationwide. (From the wine's structure, we would have guessed it had a big dollop of Cabernet Sauvignon, but it's actually 94% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec, and 0.5% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.)
These Merlots are generally drink-now wines, though the Charles Krug...would likely improve for a couple of years.

Charles Krug 2005 (Napa Valley)$18.79. Very Good. Best of tasting. Looks pretty and vibrant. Tight black core, with some black pepper, herbs and fine acidity. Some structure, good fruit -- nothing phony about it. Good with steak.

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