“Fat Bastard Merlot”…Brilliant!

January 26, 2005 at 7:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized and tagged: Wine Reviews

(FYI…I took that title from the TV Commerical for beer with the two british scientists…its not totally random)

Our wine review for Wine Blogging Wednesday #5 – Wacky Names – is a cheeky merlot with a catchy name “Fat Bastard” Merlot 2003. The label points out that it’s “named after the British expression describing a particularly rich and full wine.” For $8.99 a bottle it was perfect for tasting for the WBW#5.

The Website provides the story of how the name was created (its not a short read). Long story short, French wine maker Thierry Boudinaud used the expression “Fat Bastard” to describe an experimental wine he was making. He and Guy Anderson, a British wine merchant and partner of Thierry’s, first tasted the wine and found it well rounded and very full. Guy had used the expression for other things in the past but when Thierry tasted this experimental wine he called it a “Fat Bastard”, and the name stuck.

Notes on the Merlot according to the website:

Grape variety: 100% Merlot

Vinification: Fruit is selected from several vineyards throughout the Languedoc. A significant amount of the harvest comes from top quality vineyards located on the slopes towards Uzès and to the north of Nîmes. During the harvest season the grapes are checked 2 or 3 times a week. Picking starts at full maturity in order to get as much fruit and complexity as possible.

Grapes are de-stemmed and crushed upon arrival at the winery. They then receive pre-cold maceration 2 to 3 days prior to fermentation which starts with selected yeasts. Temperatures are controlled between 25 and 26 degrees Celsius in order to keep the fruit character and not extract too many tannins. Pumping-over is repeated smoothly twice a day, at the end of fermentation wines are racked into vats or barrels in order to begin malolactic fermentation and start the aging process. The finished wine bottled after 8 months.

Tasting Notes: Nice dark red color to the wine. It has a distinct cherry aroma that wouldn’t take a very discerning sense of smell to notice. Its pretty light bodied and probably could use a little more cellar time to fill it out. Its got a plum and cherry flavor with a bit of a smoky finish. Kelly and I were pretty impressed and the final ruling is that at $9-bucks a bottle this is a pretty decent find!

BTW: We bought this at Whole Foods!

Enjoy the Wine Life!

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