Chateau Mylord Bordeaux

Hello Wine Lovers!

Today's entry is a French Bordeaux from the Chateau of Mylord. You may ask yourself,"What kind of Bordeaux is going to cost me less than $10 and is worth drinking?" Well my friends, it's this one! Binny's has it for $7.99 a bottle and for that cost you will be pleasantly surprised how nice it is. It is a blend of 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. You will find this wine to be fruity, uncomplicated, straight forward with loads of strawberry, black cherry and wild raspberry fruit intermixed with slight soil notes, and virtually no oak. Supple and round with a nice finish. Since this wine is made up of primarily Merlot, let me tell you a little about this grape.

Along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot, Merlot is one of the primary grapes in Bordeaux wine where it is the most widely planted grape. Merlot is also one of the most popular red wine varietals in many markets. Merlot is one of the world's most planted grape varieties. As of 2004, Merlot was estimated to be the third most grown variety at 640,000 acres globally. This puts Merlot just behind Cabernet Sauvignon's 650,000 acres globally. Merlot is a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon which tends to be higher in tannin than Merlot, and Merlot softens those tannins. According to Wikipedia, researchers at University of California, Davis believe that Merlot is an offspring of Cabernet Franc and is a sibling of Carménère and Cabernet Sauvignon. The earliest recorded mention of Merlot was in the notes of a local Bordeaux official who in 1784 labeled wine made from the grape in the Libournais region as one of the area's best. By the 19th century it was being regularly planted in the Médoc on the "Left Bank" of the Gironde. The popularity of Merlot stemmed in part from the relative ease in pronouncing the name of the wine as well as its softer, fruity profile that made it more approachable to "new" wine drinkers. Whether you like Merlot as a varietal, or you like it in a blend, I don't think you will be disappointed in this wine!

Cheers!

J