For all those who still think Merlot is soft and juicy you might want to reconsider that. As the wine gets older, and made under the right conditions, it shucks the soft and juicy and develops more interesting and more complex flavours and aromas. Tonight I yanked a wine out from the deeper part of the cellar, yet managed to stay in Canada, as a Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Merlot was the wine of choice. The wine kept getting more interesting throughout the night, what started out earthy turned to dried leaves before settling nicely (and for the rest of the evening) into dried berries and fruit leather. The palate seemed to have the same reaction, starting out as a very spicy and peppery number before coasting along in the latter stages with dried fruit a la blackberry and cassis ... as the night wore on the palate dried out even more to the point where there was super dry fruit and hints of wood holding it up. This wine has held up rather well, but what really ends up coming out now is the spicy / peppery notes ... I suggest if you have some kicking about it's time to drink it up, but give it a little time in a decanter - not too much mind you - or you'll be left with too much wood and not enough fruit ... this really is a balancing act of a wine - there's a sweet spot here, you just have to have patience to find it ... forget the decanter go with a big glass and a lazy evening where you can sip and sample away.
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