By Michael Franz
Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Live by the fad, die by the fad. That could conceivably go down as the postmortem assessment of the Merlot Boom, which began in the 1990s for largely fortuitous reasons and is now threatened by a stroke of bad fortune: a profane slur leveled against merlot by the lead character in the movie "Sideways."
Fads can be tricky to explain, but the Merlot Boom can be dated precisely to Nov. 17, 1991. On that date, CBS's "60 Minutes" aired a segment entitled "The French Paradox" suggesting that wine -- particularly red wine -- might help ward off heart disease. During the ensuing four weeks, red wine sales in U.S. supermarkets surged 44 percent (or 2.6 million bottles) compared with the same period the previous year.
We'll never know exactly how many of those who turned red in this period were really turning for health reasons. But we do know that, once turned, they went looking for something "smooth."
Several grape varieties could have fit that bill, and several (especially pinot noir) could actually have filled it better than merlot. Nevertheless, merlot is the grape that boomed. It was easy for newcomers to pronounce and easier to drink as a cocktail than the leading red alternative, cabernet sauvignon, as it tends to be a little less acidic and astringent.
The wine industry got behind the grape in a big way, and in California alone, acreage planted with merlot increased from 8,000 acres in 1992 to 33,000 by the end of 1996.
The consequences of wine fads are easy to predict. When vintners could sell any bottle with merlot on the label -- almost regardless of quality -- many proved ready to do almost anything to fill more bottles. Some producers used too much fruit from immature vineyards. Others increased yields by aggressively fertilizing and irrigating their vines. The consequence of such measures was that the finished wines lacked concentration, grip and guts, but a backlash remained unlikely since many of those buying the bottles wanted smoothness.
The upshot is that mass-market merlot became a commercial phenomenon even as it became a generally innocuous wine. I say "generally" because merlot is in fact a potentially great grape, as has been proved countless times over many decades by conscientious vintners, especially those in the Bordeaux communes of Pomerol and St. Emilion. Nevertheless, merlot's profile set it up as a bubble prone to pricking when "Sideways" began showing in theaters last year. The bubble is lanced in a scene outside a restaurant when the character Miles, played by Paul Giamatti, delivers an incensed warning to his friend that "if anyone orders merlot, I'm leaving. I am not drinking any [expletive] merlot."
That line got the biggest laugh of the night when I saw the film, but vintners heavily invested in merlot are not laughing. As Washington Post business writer Margaret Webb Pressler reported on April 10, sales of merlot declined 2 percent in the 12 weeks after "Sideways" was released, whereas pinot noir (Miles's favorite) increased by 14 percent.
Merlot producers are worried, and some are working hard to counteract the notion that the grape is some sort of joke. For example, Stu Harrison, general manager of Napa's Swanson Vineyards (which makes an excellent merlot) is working on damage control. He and his associates are conducting seminars around the country to help consumers differentiate "the ocean of ordinary stuff from the handful of serious producers who grow merlot in the right conditions and take merlot seriously as a variety," he says.
Interestingly, Swanson's seminars were launched a year before "Sideways" debuted, suggesting that producers are challenged less by the movie itself than by all the lousy merlot that lent credence to Miles's diatribe.
Merlot's boom was not grounded on a solid foundation, but it doesn't deserve the bust now threatened by an anti-merlot fad. The grape retains all of its strong potential, and though I've tasted plenty of unremarkable bottlings during the past few weeks while checking the current crop, I've also tasted some standouts in the key price range, between $9 and $18.
Here are my top 10 in order of preference, with parenthetical information on regions of origin, approximate prices, and importers for wines made overseas:
Chateau Penin (Bordeaux Superieur, France) "Les Cailloux" 2002 ($18-$20, J. Cambier): A superb wine crafted entirely from merlot, this features complex aromas and deep flavors of dark berries and black cherries, along with accents of smoke and dried herbs. Robust enough to stand up to serious meat dishes, it is nevertheless soft and rounded in texture.
Geyser Peak (Sonoma County, Calif.) 2001 ($17): Although many New World merlots are so soft as to seem formless, bottles like this prove that it is not a necessary outcome.
Impressively concentrated and deeply flavored, this wine balances robust, expressive notes of dark berries and plums against spicy oak that lends complexity without obscuring the delicious core of fruit.
Domaine de Moulines (Vin de Pays de l'Herault, France) 2003 ($9, Dionysos): This would be an amazing bargain at $9 even if it had not come all the way from France in a time of unfavorable exchange rates. But taking those facts into account, it seems downright miraculous. Dark color shows its seriousness from the first glance, and the wine follows through with lovely aromas and deep flavors based on pure, rich, plum-flavored fruit.
Kenwood (Sonoma County, Calif.) 2002 ($14): This well-made wine is a model of balance and integration, with fresh fruit augmented by tastefully subtle oak. The combination of medium body and flavors that are satisfying but not overly assertive will make this a great match for many moderately robust foods.
Trumpeter (Tupungato, Mendoza, Argentina) 2003 ($9, Billington): Wines under the Trumpeter label have been a bit inconsistent over the years, but the producer really got things right in this case. Dark, concentrated and full of fresh fruit flavors that are accented with a nice little whiff of smoky oak, it offers outstanding value.
Hogue (Columbia Valley, Wash.) 2003 ($10): Relatively inexpensive and made in quite large quantities, this is just the sort of wine likely to make a merlot-phobe recoil in horror, yet it is delicious and well made, with substantial fruit, fine balance and texture that is soft but not wimpy.
Domaine de Gournier (Vin de Pays des Cevennes, France) 2003 ($9, Kacher): Ripe and intensely fruity, this is bursting at the seams with notes of red and black berries. The juicy fruit notes are effectively balanced by some ripe tannins that contribute structure but no harshness.
Cousiño-Macul (Maipo Valley, Chile) 2004 ($9, Billington): Few at this price show distinct marks of their lead grape or place of origin, but this impressive bottling shows both quite clearly. Plum and cherry notes express nice varietal character, and interesting accents of cedar and dried herbs are characteristically Chilean. Complex and well integrated, this is a great buy.
Bogle (California) 2003 ($12): This is soft enough to exemplify the smooth-as-silk stereotype of merlot made for cocktail purposes, yet it should not be dismissed. The dark cherry flavors are pleasant, and while the structural elements of acidity, oak and tannin are muted, they are notable and very well integrated.
Lawson Ranch (Monterey County, Calif.) 2002 ($9): With chunky, flavorful notes of dark cherries and a moderately assertive dose of spicy oak, this delivers a lot of flavor and fun.