Chalk Hill 2000 Merlot

It turns out people don't eat as much cheese as you'd expect. In preparation for by birthday party, I bought out the city's supply of cheese - jarlsberg, blue, camembert, chevre, smoked gouda, aged gouda, sharp cheddar, grafton, and of course, Natalie's bohemoth brie. Unfortunately, a large portion of this went untouched - I guess people are afraid of getting fat or something. Last night it was my turn to cook dinner, and considering half the fridge is currently dominated by cheese, it seemed like a good idea to use some. I invited Peter over, and since he's a big smoked gouda fan, I substituted that for parmesan in my usual risotto recipe, plus a little red bell pepper and spinach. I also stuffed some baby portobellos with homemade sun-dried tomato cream cheese, wrapped them in marinated steak, and grilled them on the Foreman.

Peter brought over a Merlot that supposedly had been sitting in his apartment for a while. Before dinner, he quizzed me on the flavors while reading the wine specs online. Miraculously, I got a few right, but it was probably luck and a little bull shit, (as Peter would say ALL wine tasting is). This is a pretty neat wine - estate grown and bottled on just 1200 acres, "Chalk Hill," in Sonoma County. The label even lists the then-proprietors of the estate, Fred and Peggy Furth. Fred is (was?) a pilot and founded the estate in 1972, which includes a farm, equestrian center, restaurant, culinary gardens, swimming and fishing ponds, and a home. The current proprietor, William Foley II, added the Chalk Hill estate to his expanding portfolio in August of this year. For some reason, this makes me sad. I wonder what happened to Fred and Peggy.

I couldn't find anything about the 2000 vintage in particular, but more recent vintages are actually a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Malbec. The winery waits until the grape softens slightly before picking, which results in softer tannins.

This wine was slightly more burnt brown than maroon, with lots of sediment from age in the bottom of the bottle. It was on the thinner side, medium-bodied and drinkable. When I first tried to identify a smell for Peter's quiz, all I could pin down was mulch. This translated into a kind of cedar flavor and almost no fruit. This confused me; I never drink Merlot, but I've always heard it's one of the fruitier reds. Now knowing that it probably had 20% Malbec (also typically fruity), I have no idea what was going on with this wine. Eventually, I picked out a few fruits: plum, black something, and a hint of the acid and tartness of cranberry. But honestly the whole thing was way more earth than fruit - it reminded Caitlin of a Cab, and I agree. Luckily, Cab is my favorite varietal, so it worked out well. It finished "persistently" with firm but not overbearing tannins, and the bottle was gone before we knew it. I think this Merlot would go well with a lot of things and was great on its own; it has definite personality but doesn't hog the spotlight. It made me want to give Merlot another shot.

(photo note: my new moleskin wine journal! this was, appropriately, the first entry.)