The trend continues – you probably remember Warren’s 2019 Merlot it was a big wine and I won’t be going anywhere near another for quite a few years – the return to elegance is once again expressed in this 2021 vintage Merlot.
Beautiful colours in the glass, darker cherries in the depths and morphing to bright coloured crimson with some glints of rose pink hues as your gaze moves further toward the edge but the truly striking feature is that the wine looks so fresh and alive literally sparkling with energised radiance.
Red cherries bound from the glass, there are moments of darker cherries, raspberries waft and turn in the redolence, a little oak at the bottom of the fruit fragrance and a last hint of something like maraschino.
The palate is a gently moving slow hypnotic like waltz but there is also some genuine up tempo there at times. Lightly stepping red and dark cherries are in the immediacy raspberries and a little red currant provide a tributary flow as they begin to move in the fruit dance and they produce a lovely palatal succulence which is reluctant to leave but eventually cedes the floor to very fine and quite earthy and mineral tannins that are spiked with some aniseed. The succulence is predominantly savoury/sour, the young tannins do induce a little drying and this will soften dramatically in coming months. The acid is fresh and well balanced, it produces a little energy in the gently flowing dance but only as a lesser partner to the fruit.
The label suggests the wine will drink well now, and indeed it does, but also short term cellaring under good conditions. I believe the wine will cellar well, if treated with the love it deserves, for up to 10 years. It’s exciting to see the post drought fruit producing such interesting and elegant wines, what a joy it is to taste this Merlot on a beautiful Spring day in Brisbane.
Tasted: Saturday 29th October, 2022 without food and then with over several hours.
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $30
Suggested Drinking Window: now to 2031
Winemaker: Warren Smith
Fruit Source: Estate
Oak: Aged French and American Barriques
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