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Saint Clair 2010 Marlborough Merlot
 In
winter, a hearty meal and a red wine can be enjoyable on a cold
evening, particularly since a red wine is best served at room
temperature. The wine I have chosen this week is Saint Clair's 2010
Marlborough Merlot. Merlot is not a typical varietal produced in
quality from Marlborough, but is a good all-purpose wine as welcome
at a party as at dinner.
For their Marlborough Merlot, Saint Clair sourced fruit from several
sites mainly from the Rapaura area of the Wairau Plains. These sites
were specifically chosen, naturally low cropping warm vineyards that
were carefully monitored throughout the growing process.
At the end of April, the grapes were found to be at full maturity
and were harvested. At the winery, the grapes were de-stemmed into
small stainless steel fermenters, where they underwent a five-day
cold soak to help maximise flavour and colour extraction. Selected
yeast was then added, then the must was hand plunged and pumped over
to gently extract colour, flavour and tannins.
Once the primary ferment was finished, the wine was still in contact
with skins and was tasted daily until the right extraction and
balance was achieved. The wine was then gently pressed off its skins
and racked to new and seasoned American oak to undergo secondary (malolactic)
ferment. After spending ten months aging on light lees, the wine was
blended, egg white fined, balanced and carefully prepared for
bottling.
I found the deep ruby red Saint Clair Marlborough Merlot to have
aromas of black cherry, dark plum and spice with savoury oak notes.
On the palate, this wine has flavours of blackberry and plum with
notes of spices reminiscent of Christmas cake. It has an elegant
stylish palate, with balanced acidity and a lingering finish of
savoury oak.
This wine is another good choice for duck season, but will also go
well with grilled steak or roast lamb. It is drinking well now but I
would expect it to develop further over the next four to five years
with careful cellaring.
Reviewed by Stephen Clark (30/5/2011)
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