It’s an uncomfortable experience to re-watch a movie you loved as a kid. Often, the jokes are stupider than you remember, and the special effects look like crap. Worst of all, you may find yourself thinking that the hero is acting like a selfish twerp, and that the villain–the school principal or parent or cop or boss man–is actually making some pretty valid points.
There’s a similar danger to returning to a wine from your past. Palates evolve, wine trends come and go–but well-known brands usually don’t change that much over time.
“This? I used to like this?” you think, as you firmly re-cork the bottle and shove it into the back of the fridge.
I did not have the fortitude to re-visit Red Diamond Merlot or Yellow Tail Merlot on this Merlot Thursday. Launched in 2003 and 2001 respectively, both bottles were once staples of restaurant wine lists, corner stores, and dorm-room parties.
I drank a lot of those Merlots. I enjoyed them. And if they are, in hindsight, truly terrible–then present-tense me doesn’t want to know about it.
So instead, I reached for a slightly more respectable and less familiar artifact of the Merlot era: the Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells Merlot.
This venerable Columbia Valley Merlot had its star moment in 1993, when Robert Parker declared it “World Class.” I’m drinking it by the glass at Seasons 52–a restaurant that looks like it’s also from 1993, with its printed upholstery booths, golden oak bartop, and amber glass sconces.
“Losing My Religion” is playing softly on the sound system. There is a balsamic drizzle on every plate. I swirl the etched wineglass and prepare to time travel.
Tasting Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells Merlot
Highly aromatic, with violet and rose. It’s an unexpected floral ambush, like walking past the Bath & Body Works at the mall. A sandalwood base note surrounds the soft ripe berries, anchoring them with oiled wood and musk. The wine’s color is in its goth phase, oxblood red with an inky core.
In the 2022 bottling, a generous sploosh of Syrah (15%) adds dark berry flavors and firmness to Merlot’s softness. A touch of residual sugar complements the sweet spices without turning this Merlot into red-wine pudding. Gentle acidity lets the flavors chillax on the palate until you’re ready for another sip.
Red cherry compote is freshened by a touch of orange citrus and rhubarb before the spices come…well, barreling at you. Clove, vanilla, cooked blackberries, and cocoa are at the core of the palate, with a touch of toasted tobacco. A tongue-coating finish of dark chocolate and liqueur-soaked cherries ties everything up with a red velvet bow. It’s a wine built for pleasure, not profundity.
The fruit comes from the namesake Indian Wells Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope, along with some other warm-climate Washington sites. It’s aged for a minimum of 14 months in neutral and new French and American oak barrels.
A ’90s Merlot comes of age
Chateau Ste. Michelle’s spidery font always triggers memories of elementary-school cursive lessons, while the Chateau logo triggers memories of, well…fake IDs and smuggled bottles. I admit I approached this wine with moderate expectations. And you know what? It more than delivered.
The first Indian Wells Merlot was bottled over three decades ago, it pains me to say. And Merlot has been through many trials and ordeals in the intervening years. Bullying. Destitution. Reinvention.
But Merlot is often best when it gets to be its old self. Merlot the way we loved it before we knew it was uncool–fruity, plush, swathed in oak, and simply delicious.
Like R.E.M. and chicken-pesto flatbreads and movies where the young hero is kind of a jerk but learns something before the end credits, the 1990s gave us some rather good stuff. The Indian Wells Merlot is a wine of its time, but it’s also a wine that can survive its rediscovery.
Bottle: Chateau Ste. Michelle “Indian Wells” Columbia Valley Merlot (2022) – Washington, United States
Variety: Merlot (85%), Syrah (15%)
ABV: 14.9%
Suggested retail: $18
My rating: 8.7 (out of 10)
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
On Thursdays, we Merlot! You can view archived #MerlotThursday reviews here.
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