Friday night – Guy’s night

The wives were out Friday for dinner for a ‘girl’s night’ out (which hopefully Amy will be blogging about soon – hint, hint) so Mick and I were on our own for dinner. Mick had a craving for sausage (insert your crude or sexual based humour here ). So surprise, surprise our guy’s night turned into a sausage-fest (once again insert crude or sexual based humour).

I grilled up a bunch of Italian and Honey Garlic sausages, and picked up a vinegar-based coleslaw and a creamy potato salad with roasted garlic as sides. A bottle of 2002 Rutherford Hill Merlot was chosen to accompany the meal.

"Uncorked and ready to go..."

Merlot is a funny grape, as wine from it can be made in very different styles, this is true of just about all grapes but Merlot seems to have the most range for a red. Stirling is a winery in California that make a very thin precision driven Merlot with very subtle flavor. Rutherford Hill is the other end of the spectrum, big, fruity, tannic and powerful with nothing subtle about it. If you poured a glass of each out and tried them side by side, I believe most people would think they were from two different grapes.

I not saying one style is better then the other, for me it depends on what foods you are pairing it with as I enjoy it both ways (the one liners this article is generating are starting to get out of hand). Items with good fat such as NY strips, sausage, heavy pastas, etc. a bigger Merlot such as the Rutherford Hill are a great match. Fish, more delicate pastas, chicken, lean pork a thinner subtle Merlot like the Stirling are a better match.

"More details"

The colour of the Rutherford Hill is what a Merlot should be – a deep, dark purplish red hue. The aroma of the Rutherford was eluding me, black berry and smoke would be my best guess. Don’t get me wrong, there was a big aroma off of the wine, I just couldn’t pin it down.

Tasting the Rutherford Hill, was what I expected - big and powerful with a huge mouth-feel. It was very nice but a tad harsh on the finish. It paired nicely with all of the food but really shined when paired with the garlic potato salad.

Mick had a half bottle (375ml) earlier in the week of the 2003 Rutherford Hill Merlot with steak and commented to me how well it went with it.

We don’t have the ladies in on this rating so it might be a tad off without them to balance the rating up –

Mick – 90, Mark 91, Overall – 90.5

Here is the LCBO Information –

Rutherford Hill Merlot 2003

Vintages 959338
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 27.75
Wine, Red Wine,
14.2% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: California, United States
By: Terlato Wines International
Release Date: Jan 19, 2008

Tasting Note - This house has long specialized in merlot, fashioning it into a serious, substantial age-worthy style. So expect a deeply coloured, big, complex red with ripe black cherry, chocolate, leather, smoke and tea notes. Full bodied, dense and chewy with a good sense of proportion. Excellent length. Best 2008 to 2011. Score - 91. (David Lawrason, Wine Access, The Lawrason E-Report, March 31, 2007)

*Note – this is on 2003 not the 2002 covered in the article.

Here is what the Wine Spectator had to say about it –

Rutherford Hill Merlot Napa Valley 2002

Complex, with perfumed plum and black cherry fruit flavors that are supple and polished, with good intensity, depth and length. Fine-grained tannins show through on the finish, along with a touch of cedar and herb. This tightly wound youngster has room to grow. Drink now through 2009. 72,000 cases made. –JL

Price - $25
Score – 88

Cheers!

Mark