Merlot is like a perfumed and plumper version of Cabernet. Add the Barossa origin and it is richer again.
The famed region of Bordeaux, France is where it reaches great heights and prices with the district of Pomerol being noted for the best. Indeed, the top wine Chateaux Petrus sells for many thousands of dollars a bottle.
The variety gained favour in the US though was a late entrant to Australia with the first wines appearing in the 1990s. They were hard to sell and in the early 2000s I purchased a bulk wine from Central Victoria cheaply which having appeal was entered in the Royal Sydney Show and went on to win the Trophy.
We did not make this wine and jumped at the chance when a local maker offered us a few barrels. Since we like our history this has been bottled under the old wine merchant label of Auld and Burton (used from the 1860s).
