Moonstone Cellars offers a surprising upset in a blind tasting of some of the best Merlots.

Continuing our exploration of the current state of Merlot in the New World, we selected eight of the best available examples for a blind evaluation. There were some surprises!

In past articles, we have recommended several dependable New World Merlots at every price point. The most well-established high-quality California Merlots are Beringer's Bancroft Ranch Merlot and Duckhorn's Napa Valley Merlot, both in the $60-75 price range. We chose to include one of these in the current evaluation. And since some noteworthy Merlots have been coming from Italy, we wanted a highly rated Italian example as well. All wines in the tasting carried WS or WA ratings between 90 and 93 points except for an unrated example from a little-known boutique winery in the quaint seaside village of Cambria, California.

The Prototype—St. Emilion

We chose the 2000 Lynsolence St. Emilion Grand Cru; 13.5% alc., $50 as a prototypical example. The vintage of 2000 was an outstanding one in Bordeaux and this wine did not disappoint. It provided the typical Bordeaux nose of dried cherry, cedar, tobacco, and tea.

A Fine Merlot from Italy

The Italian Merlot, 2003 Falesco Montiano Lazio IGT; 13.5% alc., $42, was immediately identified by every panel member as an Italian example because of its leanness and Italianate style.

An Outstanding Merlot from Chile

The 2004 Marques de Casa Concha Merlot D. O. Peuma; 14% alc., $20 proved to be an outstanding example of the best of Chilean Merlots. This flagship Merlot from the house of Concha y Toro displayed the rich core of cherry fruit that the European wines underplayed, along with notes of smoke and chile pepper. At $20 it's a wonderful buy and we recommend it.

The California Merlots

The examples from California ranged in price from $18 to $75. We fully expect the highest priced Merlots to outperform the lower priced examples. We were in for some surprises. The wines chosen to represent California are listed in order of price:

2004 Moonstone Cellars Merlot Paso Robles; 14.4% alc., $18

2004 Hall Merlot Napa Valley; 14.5% alc., $29

2002 Newton Unfiltered Merlot Napa Valley; 14.3% alc., $52

2003 Twomey Merlot Napa Valley; 14.5% alc., $70

2002 Beringer Merlot Bancroft Ranch Napa Valley; 14.3% alc., $75

First, we want to note that all the California Merlots carried on average a full percent more alcohol than the European examples. That alone leads to a richer, deeper style. Some would say that this makes them more delicious as stand alone wines, but possibly less food friendly than the leaner European wines.

The Winner—Newton Unfiltered Merlot

This was the clear winner. Perfection of balance, very aromatic nose, rich and round mouthfeel. In short, everything you could wish for in a California Merlot. Highly recommended. Although our example was priced at $52, we've seen this wine online for $34.

The Upset—Moonstone Cellars Merlot Paso Robles

Fine as all the wines in our lineup are, the real surprise came from tiny Moonstone Cellars, whose Paso Robles Merlot exhibited more of the characteristics we expect in a fine Bordeaux Merlot than any of the other wines in the tasting. Not quite as richly flavored as the Newton, nevertheless it scored in second place, besting Hall, Twomey, and Beringer Bancroft Ranch. The wines were scored before their prices and identities were revealed and there were shouts of excitement when our panel learned that the second highest scoring Merlot in the entire lineup was also the least expensive. Moonstone Cellars' Paso Robles Merlot is an affordable treasure of a wine. Highly Recommended.