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| 2021 Matt Parish, Merlot - Napa Valley |
Do you guys find yourself "jumping on bandwagons"? I think that so many people seem to do this and honestly, I'm not sure why. It seems as if most people today just either won't or can't think for themselves. Having said this, I myself do not "jump on bandwagons" whether it is for wine or anything else. My tastes are my tastes and I stick to them no matter what the likes of Robert Parker might say :) This is why I suggest to you guys, if you find a wine varietal/style that I happen to like and you compare my feelings to your feelings on that varietal/style and we agree, then you can most likely trust my review on that particular varietal/style. Why do I bring this up you may ask? Well, I bring it up because of the winemaker of today's review wine which is Matt parish. To my surprise, there has not been a single wine that Matt has made that I do not like and that includes his Rose which is a varietal I do not normally enjoy. From the very first wine of Matt's that I tasted, to the very last wine, I have found myself loving all of them. This was the case even before he became well known on the site I buy his wines from which is Naked Wines. Of course, Matt does also normally make the most expensive wines that Naked Wines sells and that is probably at least partially why his wines are so darn good but a ton of it is due to his wine background and knowledge as well. Now, having said this we are off to today's wine review.
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| Merlot Grapes |
Today I am going to be checking out the
2021 Matt Parish, Merlot - Napa Valley. I paid $22 ($29.99 if not a
member) for this wine at Naked Wines and the alcohol percentage comes in at
14.2%. The grapes for the wine come from the Napa Valley and the bottle is cork sealed.
On the nose now,
I get a limited note of an oaked Black Cherry. This is followed up with a rather nice tobacco leaf note. Overall the wine smells like it is going to be delicious and I am getting the strong feeling that the wine is one that takes itself very seriously.
On the palate now...yeah...let me begin by telling you that as I thought, this is a
pretty serious Merlot. To begin with, the wine displays delicious
and slightly bracing tannin's along with a slight bit of a delightful chalkiness as
well. These notes work very nicely at providing a slight coating to the palate which I happen to love in my reds. I like how these notes take the lead in the wine as they are well placed. As a quick note, this presentation
says to me that the wine is still rather young and can benefit by at least another year of proper cellaring.That
oaked Black Cherry I got on the nose is nicely evident here and it is certainly very lively, fresh tasting, and delicious. Acidity is high but goes along
with the wine in general. Guys you should know that everything in this wine is in perfect balance and aside from the tannin's
needing to soften a bit (for some), the wine is pure enjoyment. Black Plum is
very evident here as well and it wants you to take notice for sure. This
Black plum tastes like it was fresh picked from the tree and is also very lively
indeed. As a whole the wine is fresh, has a vibrancy and offers up a juiciness that is amazing. You should know that the wine is not a fruit bomb nor is it a red wine that relies on fruit to be the only thing you taste as I am also picking up a bit of a leathery note here that really fits right in perfectly and is a note that I would expect from this level of Merlot. At this early stage of development,
the wine might be considered to be on the astringent side for some and while I personally love it, I
do believe that some people would want to put the wine away for at least
a year to soften just a bit. Sitting back now and tasting further, I get a bit of cassis as well. This note really expands the wines significance in the aspect of elevating it highly over the ordinary Merlot.
As a last note, while the wine does offer up a sort of slight richness that is
deep within it. This slight richness is not a sweet richness by any means as this wine
isn't sweet by any means however, that slight perception is there. If I were
guessing, I would say that this note comes from the oaked Black Cherry.
Now that we are at the
conclusion of this review, let me tell you what this wine is not. This
wine is not a sweet and overly fruity wine, this is not a fruit bomb. This is not your $10 Merlot set
at a high price because of the winemaker, this is a real Merlot, a
Merlot designed to impress and at a very reasonable price due to where
it is sold. Overall, this is also a wine that needs to be held on to for a couple of years if you do not care for tannin's as there are some and they are on the slightly robust side. This is a wine that offers up power and as I say occasionally with a wine such as this, is what I call a "confused Merlot"as it puts out much more than a typical Merlot normally does. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I am giving this
wine 94 points and with the assumption it continues to age as I expect it
will in the next three years it will probably reach 95 points.  |
| Beautiful Merlot Waiting To Be Enjoyed |
The Desert Wine Guy
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