Celebrating Merlot Day

Secretly I’m longing for someone to finally proclaim a national day in honour of Malta’s Ġellewża and Girgentina varieties. Until then, I gladly revel in International Merlot Day, which is celebrated by oenophiles around the world on 7 November.

If you follow this wine column, you know I keep Merlot close to my heart and my corkscrew even closer to examples that are rooted in Malta.

If I had to choose only one locally-grown noble grape, it’s indeed Merlot I hold in high regard. That’s because I believe it could very well be the country’s most promising cultivar to render mind-blowing Maltese wines of grand cru calibre in the future.

In Malta, like in most other winemaking countries, there’s already an assortment of excellent mono-varietals to try. Locally-grown wines are generally aged in oak barrels but there are also a few unwooded bottles around.

When it’s made well, Merlot does justice to its nickname ‘little blackbird’ (a diminutive from merle in French). It’s a grape variety that gives round and delicious wines with aromas of black fruits such as black cherry, blackberry and cassis. You also get hints of truffle, violet, plum and chocolate.

Our own Merlot generally maintains the freshness of the fruit, despite Malta’s warm climate. It’s soft, well-balance, fleshy and can be opulent in texture. 

Malta’s best bottles also show that extra dimension: a subtle dusty, faintly savoury attraction. Precisely this uncommon appeal sets it apart from wines from the rest of the world.

Here to help you celebrate this year’s International Merlot Day is a flight of three delicious Maltese wines that have earned recognition at top wine competitions. Each one charms with characteristics true to the variety’s hallmark and with an attractive local stamp.

First up, of course, is Malta’s most-honoured Merlot, which has won multiple medals including gold in Bordeaux, the spiritual home of the variety. Its name Gran Cavalier Merlot DOK Malta Superior is a mouthful but so is this gallant barrique-matured wine made by Delicata in a classic claret style.

However, if you prefer your Merlot to sit smack dab in the middle of the spectrum between the jammy style associated with hot New World countries and the leaner, earthier plum-flavoured types from cooler wine regions such as Italy’s Friuli-Venezia Giulia, I recommend Delicata’s Victoria Heights Merlot.

This crimson red, coming from the heartland of Gozo, is packed with berry goodness layered on a ripe fruited palate, supple tannins and a medium level of alcohol. This rounded Merlot is clearly shaped by the island’s balminess.

There’s a style for everyone, which is why Merlot is adored.

If you prefer a lighter wine, I suggest you pick up Medina Merlot. The 2017 vintage was particularly outstanding and won a Gold Medal and the Premio Della Stampa at the Emozioni dal Mondo Merlot e Cabernet Insieme last year. Medina Merlot is medium to full bodied, unoaked, yet suave with a velvety finish, and true to the variety’s appealing regional attractiveness.

All three bottles, in their own way, show a desire on the part of award-winning, next generation winemaker Matthew Delicata to let the unique footprint of the vineyard show through.

These are lip-smacking Maltese wines you can toast with on International Merlot Day, and any other occasion when you wish to indulge a little.

This article by Georges Meekers was first published in the Times of Malta on 25/10/19.