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#MerlotMe with Three Turkish Merlots #WinePW

 

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This month the #WinePW group is taking advantage of October being #MerlotMe month. See the original invitation from Jeff at Food Wine Click! here. I have been unaccountably excited about this theme. For years I maintained a strong ‘no Merlot’ policy but have really come to appreciate this grape. And understand my previous prejudice for what it was: experience with bad wine. This theme also makes it easy for me to participate in the discussion with my usual raison d’être: Turkish wine.

We have a lot of Merlot in Turkey due to the general popularity of the Bordeaux varieties. Like every other wine producing country, we have really good Merlot, really bad Merlot, and everything in between. What’s really cool though is that we also have some kind of experimental Merlot wines. That’s what I chose to look at for #MerlotMe month: three Turkish Merlots made in three completely different styles.

For some reason the menu for this also came really easily. I paired the first two Merlots with thick cut steaks served with both a truffled plum jam and a rosemary fig sauce. The harvest side salad combined greens with fresh pears, dried figs, pecans, and a fig balsamic dressing. As a second side dish I continued the fruit theme with pumpkin risotto dressed with dried cranberries, goat cheese, and Austrian black gold (aka pumpkin seed oil). The third wine I paired with chocolate pot de creme.

Arda Kuşlu Late Harvest Merlot, 2018

Arda has experimented with a couple iterations of late harvest Merlot. After letting the grapes hang longer than usual, they dry them on racks similarly to the Italian appassimento process. This year for the first time the winery released a dry wine they’d made with late harvest Merlot grapes that air dried for two weeks. The wine aged for eight months in French oak barrels and underwent no filtration prior to bottling.

Perhaps because I had Valpolicella on my mind but Arda’s Late Harvest Merlot really reminded me of Amarone in the bouquet. Very rich aromas of black pepper, fresh and dried figs, brown spices, and chocolate lifted from the wine straight off the pour. A pleasingly silky texture slipped across the tongue carrying intense flavors reflective of the nose joined by rosemary. Medium-bodied with high alcohol (15% abv) and medium plus, lively acidity this was very enjoyable.

Of the two dry wines this went the best with the food. The figgy richness complimented all the food flavors and the highish acidity cut through the steak. We also discovered that the truffle flavors in the plum sauce and in the salami we had on the side had a very interesting effect on the wine. The truffle flavor brought out a brightness in the wine and changed the flavor profile to fresh red currants!

Chateau Nuzun Merlot, 2013

Chateau Nuzun’s Merlot, made with organic grapes, aged 15 months in French and American oak, and unfiltered shared similar flavors to the Arda but was a very different wine. A deeper, more opaque ruby than the Arda, it had a much more savory character. Intense aromas of cedar, black pepper, cigar box, and rosemary along with dried black cherry and fig wrapped my senses in a kind of old-timey, gentleman’s club feeling. Or what I imagine one would smell like! The tannins in the wine snuck up on me. It was only after swallowing that I noticed them clinging to the inside of my cheeks. High acidity helped balance the high alcohol (also 15% abv) and the subversive tannins while palate flavors faithfully represented the intense bouquet.

If the first wine was a perfect match for the food, the Chateau Nuzun was a fine one. The food and wine were friendly but definitely not lovers.

Gali Bağları‌ Eternity, 2013

Gali Bağları‌ sits at a high elevation where the Gallipoli Peninsula meets the mainland. It’s elevation, coupled with the narrowness of the Peninsula means that the vineyards enjoy breezes from both the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara. The view ain’t half bad either. Gali’s Eternity was the first semi-sweet Merlot to hit the market here. Late harvested grapes (although not dried like Arda’s) which were then aged for 12 months in French oak barrels.

Deep purple ruby on the pour with a rich and layered nose full of dried fruits like date, plum, and fig as well as cassis, cinnamon, clove, and rosemary. Sipping revealed a silky and weighty texture from the residual sugar but with a high acidity to balance it all and moderate (13.5%) alcohol. There were also persistent some walnut skin tannins that really clung to tongue. Flavors of fig balsamic, cassis, and honey-soaked walnuts lingered pleasantly.

How did it pair with the chocolate pot de creme? Not particularly well which disappointed me. I’ve often enjoyed semi and full sweet red wines with chocolate desserts but in these case the two were better individually.

Join the #MerlotMe #WinePW discussion!

Don’t forget to check out what the rest of the #WinePW gang discovered in their #MerlotMe explorations and join our discussion on Twitter. Just follow the #WinePW hashtag on Saturday, October 10 at 8 am PST/11 am EST/6 pm IST.

• • Andrea at The Quirky Cork shares “Three Turkish Merlots”
  • Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “Merlot: A Varietal That Plays Well with Others”
  • Cindy at Grape Experiences shares “Sip Merlot with Vegetarian Favorites”
  • Deanna at Asian Test Kitchen shares “Fall Vegan Menu Paired with 2016 Napa Merlots”
  • David at Cooking Chat shares “Merlot Food Pairing: Tips and Favorites”
  • Gwendolyn at Wine Predator shares “Meatloaf and #MerlotMe with Sonoma’s Selby and Columbia Valley’s L’Ecole No. 41”
  • Jane at Always Ravenous shares “Merlot Pairing: Baked Pasta with Sausage Ragù”
  • Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “A Tale of Two Merlots at the Grill”
  • Jill at L’Occasion shares “What’s So Special About Merlot?”
  • Jennifer at Vino Travels shares “Fall is Here! Warm up with a Merlot and Pot Roast Pairing”
  • Lauren at The Swirling Dervish shares “October is #MerlotMe Month: Here’s What I’ve Been Sipping”
  • Linda at My Full Wine Glass shares “Kicking off #MerlotMe in the Pacific time zone”
  • Liz at What’s in that Bottle? shares “Make Room for Merlot!”
  • Lori at Exploring the Wine Glass shares “Leaves on the Ground and #MerlotMe in my Glass”
  • Lynn at Savor the Harvest shares “Next Gen Merlot From Where It All Started”
  • Martin at Enofylz shares “A Meatless #MerlotMe Redux”
  • Nicole at Somms Table shares “5 #MerlotMe Nights”
  • Payal at Keep the Peas shares “Kicking Off Autumn With #Merlotme”
  • Pinny at Chinese Wine & Food Pairings shares “#MerlotMe with Markham and L’Ecole No. 41 Merlots and Army Ramen”
  • Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles shares “Merlot from elegant to badass. Time to #Merlotme.”
  • Rupal at Syrah Queen shares “#MerlotMe – Best Food Pairings For Merlot”
  • Susannah at Avvinare shares “Brazilian Merlot Is Always Welcome At My Table”
  • Terri at Our Good Life shares “Merlot Me with Noodless Lasagne”
  • Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Woohoooooooo….It is #MerlotMe month”