Australia isn’t the only country that has found difficulty in consistently producing genuinely convincing varietal merlot of the highest standard. In fact, it isn’t that difficult to submit a convincing case that merlot might do its best work in harmony with even but a small percentage of either cabernet variety. Yet, given the pig-headed determination typical of this industry the world over, most New World would-be exponents of merlot are doing it alone. That is, as a straight varietal wine. One such exponent is Brian Croser of Petaluma, who since 1990 has set aside some of the merlot grown at the company’s two Coonawarra vineyards for a varietal Merlot. They’re typically forward, perfumed and deeply concentrated in their youth, and then undergo a rather blocky, angular period from which they gradually emerge at an age of around ten years. Quite by mistake, I’d add, since I thought I was opening a bottle of the Coonawarra cabernet blend, I uncorked one of the more recent pups, the 1999 vintage. In my view, this wine is opening up more quickly than its predecessors, which is something of a relief for me, since having particularly enjoyed the silkiness and creaminess it displayed in its youth, I suspected it might. Mind you, you need to decant it for some time, since it’s a typically retentive (relatively) young Petaluma red, and needs to soak up plenty of air for its bouquet to open, its palate to flesh out and its fruit to sweeten. The wine gradually reveals a perfume that is as earthy as it is floral, whose aromas of bright red plums and black cherries are made more complex through meaty notes of leather and dark chocolate. It’s powerful but smooth, with some of the tightness of fine tannin and slight savoury edge of the Vinattieri Ticino 1999, but without the drying astringency of most other leading Italian merlots. Its deep core of pure fruit suggests liqueur cherries and cherry kernel, while its length and savoury dryness are exemplary. Many wouldn’t believe there exists an Australian merlot for long-term cellaring, but here is one. It’s still shy and callow, and I’ll enjoy watching it work through its paces for the next decade and more. Recommend this wine to the next person who tells you merlot it simple, soft and sweet!
