A Wine Lover's Nearly Weekly Review Of $15 Wines - A Bordeaux, France Merlot

At the most recent meeting of our wine tasting club the host strongly recommended this wine. Only after I bought the bottle did I realize that I tasted and reviewed a previous vintage of this same wine which I relished about two years ago. Because things can change I decided to review this wine instead of exchanging it for an unfamiliar one. I'll be reviewing two unfamiliar wines next week. In the meantime let's see if this 2005 meets the promise of the 2003.

Christian Moueix is a Bordeaux winemaker who also practices his art of producing fine Bordeaux wines in Yountville, Napa Valley, California. Those wines, as many of his others such as the world-famous Chateau Petrus are much too expensive to review in this column. By the way, Chateau Petrus is quite close to being pure Merlot, and according to those in the know, is as good as it gets. Moueix was named Man of the Year by Decanter Magazine in 2008.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price. Wine Reviewed

Moueix Merlot 2008 12.3% alcohol about $15 (Much less on the Internet) Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. Description : No one knows Merlot better than Christian Moueix, owner of the world famous (and Merlot-based) Chateau Petrus. Year after year, the Moueix Merlot defines the grape. It's medium-bodied with flavors of sour plum and blackberry, and notes of cedar and earth. The fruit is focused and firm, with bright acidity, and a medium-long finish. It's pure magic with veal medallions and sauteed mushrooms, or baked pasta. And now for my review.

At the first sips this wine was quite round. It had light tannins yet was earthy. I first paired it with a Middle-Eastern specialty called kubbe (or kibbe), ground beef in crushed bulghar jackets in a tomato sauce accompanied by sliced potatoes. The wine was dark tasting but could have used some more acidity. I got chocolate but the acidity was definitely missing.

The next meal consisted of barbecued chicken breast in a soy and garlic sauce with the skin on. The Merlot was woody and powerful, and I tasted tobacco. While I'm not a smoker or an ex-smoker I happen to like tobacco in my wine. When it met the potatoes roasted in chicken fat this wine tasted of black cherries. It was long and mouth filling. In the face of a bean salad in vinegar this wine was muted but kept its length.

My final meal was a slow cooked beef stew with chickpeas. This Merlot tasted of black cherries and chocolate and had lovely tannins. It was slightly short in acidity, but was almost there. In the presence of a tomato-based, moderately spicy Turkish salad (more of a salsa) the wine seemed balanced. Given the salad's acidity I didn't notice any acidity shortfall in the wine.

Before going to the cheeses I tried this wine with schmaltz herring packed in oil. Finally the Merlot showed some good acidity with dark cherries in the background. The first cheese was a yellow cheddar that rendered the wine light and oaky. It had moderate length and was not very flavorful. With a Swiss cheese this wine became more assertive. It tasted of chocolate but was thin.

Final verdict. This was a disappointment. I would not buy this wine again. On the other hand, I remain willing to taste a Chateau Petrus at any time.