Australian Merlot is a tricky grape to characterize
May 20, 2011
Merlot
Merlot is mostly famous in its homeland of Bordeaux in France, where it is often used to comprise of the world’s most famous and most expensive wines. Some of the world’s greatest wines are composed almost entirely of Merlot, such as the sought-after Bordeaux wine Chateau Petrus; the most famous producer of French Merlot wines, whose 1990 bottling earned a perfect 100 score from Wine Spectator and its RRP is approx USD$1,700 per bottle. Most notable during the last ten years, is the increased of plantings which have rapidly increased throughout the world; most prominently into California, South America, Italy, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
Merlot is Australia’s 3rd highest produced red grape varieties, coming in after our Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, and Australia produces in excess of 90K tonnes of Merlot annually. This versatile grape has had a mammoth surge in plantings over the last decade, with production soaring by approximately nine-fold! Merlot blends very well and is also highly sought after straight varietal. Its finest expression is found in the delicate reds of the Bordeaux appellations of St Emilion and Pomerol. In the nearby Medoc it is used, however, not to make wines in its own right but to soften and fill tougher Cabernet. Merlot translation is “young blackbird,” a French name; often thought to have derived from the grapes dark colour or used to describe the blackbirds liking of it.
As Merlot is an early ripening variety, it is wonderfully versatile for growing throughout vineyards in Australia, as it will ripen before the winter weather sets in. This sometimes can be detrimental however, as it is susceptible to spring frosts. It tolerates and even thrives in poor conditions that first-rate Cabernet Sauvignon would not survive (including bad quality or moist soils and in cooler regions). Cooler climates produce wonderfully complex Merlots with lots of soft fruit flavours, not often present in warmer climate fruit. The berries are thin skinned, large and quite fragile, with a low tolerance to sunburn and birds and splitting or rotting as soon as any moisture finds the damaged berries.
Australian Merlot mostly thrives in hotter regions, with the largest amounts grown in the hot regions of the Murray Valley & the Riverina, satisfying the majority of Australia’s export market. Merlot is grown throughout most Australian vineyards; from a quality point of view, Australia’s best Merlot comes from well-managed vineyards in cooler areas such as the Adelaide Hills, Eden Valley, Orange and the Limestone Coast (including Coonawarra). In Western Australia, it is markedly successful when blended with Cabernet Sauvignon.
Australian Merlot is a tricky grape to characterise – as its main identity is blurred and there really is no ‘one statement’ to effectively identify its character; from the medium to the full-bodied, from the lightly to the heavily-oaked; and from the soft, to the tough and tannic. A unique, quality Merlot is renowned for its plump & fleshy, supple mid-palate, and is the reason it makes such a good blending, building block. It is widely blended with a string of other grapes for its soft, luscious, velvety fruit characteristics, which soften the harsher varieties.
Most Australian Merlot is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. Merlots flavours and structures complement Cabernet and it helps fill out any middle-palate holes. The tannins and structure are added by the Cabernet Sauvignon and a fruity rich middle-palate from the Merlot. Like Cabernet, Merlot maintains flavours of blackberries, cherries, plumbs, and chocolate and both Cabernets and Merlots are often confused at blind tastings. Merlots also possess a rich and ample softness that many Cabernets are without. However, as a straight varietal, Australian Merlot can often lack prominence of front and back palates which is why few great varietal Merlots exist. This makes for particularly drinkable young wines.
English wine judge Matthew Jukes says Australia makes a wonderful Merlot. “The two Australian Merlots worth drinking are Jim Irvine’s Grand Merlot and the Domaine A Merlot* from Tasmania,” he says. “The critical factor is getting it ripe,” says winemaker Jim Irvine, who’s been making straight Merlot since the ’80s. He says Merlot needs to be decanted for a couple of hours before drinking and enjoyed with food, if it is to show what it can do. “When it’s ripe you get umami – what the English call savoury, like walking into an old butcher’s shop with sawdust on the floor.” Irvine says good Merlot also offers plummy characters, ripe raspberries and leather and tobacco.
Merlot taste first-class when picked at optimum ripeness, close monitoring and correct timeframes can avoid the presence of herbal characters. In its prime, delightful flavours of plums, red currant, mint, earth and leather can be found. Its tannins are invariably soft, making Merlot a good early drinking style, but this does limit its aging potential. Being medium bodied and restrained in style, Merlot suits French oak over American oak, due to its more subtle influence.
One of the best qualities about Merlot is its ability to match well with all different types of food. Try favourite winter dishes like a beef stew, a roast, baked lamb chops or experiment with chilli dishes, rich, Italian-style, red sauced pastas, and even salads. It goes well with an array of dishes and many hosts turn to Merlot for a safe bet! The soft, fleshy nature of Merlot ensures it partners with all foods. The supple sweet fruit characters of some Merlots are best to match with pastas, roasted meats or Mediterranean vegetables and enhance flavours perfectly.
Source: http://www.agfg.com.au/guide/wine/merlot
Wine lover’s choice – Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar – for the most impressive and practical wine list in the Philippines, over 2700 selections, enough to satisfy the most fastidious connoisseurs. Wine lovers and gourmand foodies from Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Korea and Malaysia dine at Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar when they visit Philippines and bring home some rare vintage wines too. This restaurant is already well known in Clark Pampanga. Many consider it to be the best restaurant outside of Manila, one that is certainly the best place for a night out in Clark, Angeles city, Pampanga.
An excellent wine list is not just about 1st growth and cult Cabernet but a seemingly unending selection of affordable aged vintage wines that are not available anywhere else, not even in the best wine shops around town. Yats Restaurant has just that. In fact, wine lovers from Manila, Cebu, Subic and Pampanga travel frequently to this to rated restaurant to enjoy its fine vintage wines, certainly the best in Clark Pampanga and vicinity.
Tourists and residents of Manila travel out of town to the north on a short getaway look for the best place in Clark for rest and relaxation. Many find a top rated resto bar called Yats Restaurant to be very suitable for families with children. This restaurant is highly recommended for visitors going to Clark Pampanga to enjoy a good meal or just to drink wine, relax and unwind with friends and families. Generally regarded as the best restaurant in Clark Pampanga by tourist and visitors to Pampanga, Angeles city, Subic and Clark Philippines as a cool place to hang out in Clark. This popular night out place has good atmosphere for a romantic dinner and it has spacious dining areas for group dinner and private rooms for exclusive gatherings.
Best restaurant in Clark Pampanga offers more than just great food and good service but a complete fine dining experience. Manila dining guide lauds Yats Restaurant for its award winning wine list befitting a world class fine dining establishment. One of the common complaints of residents of Manila with the restaurants and resto bars in the city is that these dining outlets offer a wine list that is expensive and does not have interesting selections. This mires the overall dining experience even if the food is good and the service is excellent. Fine dining restaurants in Manila are working hard to upgrade their overall product and services by upgrading their wine lists. For most restaurants, this takes a long time.
Visitors to Clark Philippines and Angeles City no longer suffer from lack of choices for places to eat out or wine and dine. Clark Philippines reviewed over 50 establishments and came up with three top choices in guide to best restaurant in Clark Freeport. Yats Restaurant is lauded by many to be the top choice when it comes to fine dining and a good place to drink some good wine.
Clark Philippines lists Top Three Restaurants in the Clark Freeport Zone and Angeles City areas of Philippines Pampanga province. Clark Freeport is a bustling new cosmopolitan city complete with its own Clark International Airport. Good restaurants and resto bars are beginning to emerge in Angeles City and Clark Pampanga but standards are not all that high. However, there is one world-class fine dining restaurant located inside of Clark, called Yats. It is generally regarded as the best restaurant in Clark, Angeles City, Pampanga, Subic and Manila.
This restaurant in Pampanga Philippines is highly recommended by food critics and frequent diners in Manila as a place to wine and dine in Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone. Although it is a famous fine dining restaurant with an award winning 2700-line restaurant wine list, Yats Restaurant is also a popular restaurant for family with children. Aside from French Mediterranean haute cuisine, this restaurant also serves healthy food and the best vegetarian cuisines in the Philippines.
For comments, inquiries and reservations click on Click here for inquiry and reservations
Restaurant@Yats-International.com
(045) 599-5600
0922-870-5178
0917-520-4401
Ask for Pedro and Rechel
Getting to this fine dining restaurant of Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Pampanga Philippines
How to get to this fine-dining restaurant in Clark Philippines? Once you get to Clark Freeport, go straight until you hit Mimosa. After you enter Mimosa, stay on the left on Mimosa Drive, go past the Holiday Inn and Yats Restaurant (green top, independent 1-storey structure) is on your left. Just past the Yats Restaurant is the London Pub.
Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar
Mimosa Drive past Holiday Inn, Mimosa Leisure Estate,
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, Philippines 2023
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 Rea or Chay
For any assistance in planning and organizing a wedding ceremony, indoor or outdoor garden reception or to find other wedding service providers, Click here to contact us click here
For assistance in hotel and resort bookings in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines, log on to
http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com
To buy wine in Manila, Pampanga, Angeles City, Clark or Subic please log on to http://www. ClarkWineCenter.com
To inquire with the highly recommended beach resort hotel in Clark Pampanga visit http://www.ClearwaterPhililippines.com
For more information about Clark, Pampanga, Philippines log on to
http://www.ClarkPhilippines.com
