Merlot is often underrated as a red grape variety and was not helped by a Hollywood movie denouncing it in favour of Pinot Noir! Our Merlot grapes are fruity and well balanced and they love the southern French climate. With them we produce this soft, subtle wine that is as easily paired with pizza and pasta as with your Sunday roast. At Domaine de Sainte Rose we aim to challenge assumptions made about certain grape varieties and the area that they come from.

Colour: Deep, almost black red with a purple tint

Nose: Intense and complex with lots of ripe, black fruit, vanilla and chocolate. There are also hints of black pepper and elegant wood. As this wine matures the spicy, chocolate, mocha and truffle notes will develop, with less obvious fruit.

Palate: Well balanced with good structure, soft, ripe tannins and excellent length.

Drink: Now until 2014

Available vintages: 2009

What the critics say

Nicely mature! Showing a plummy fruit character, soft, with notes of mocha, easy tannins & well judged oak. Would drink very well with grilled lamb leg steaks.

Neil Courtier, GrapeSense

It has a deep purple appearance with an initial palate of complex black fruits, spice and hints of pepper leaving the palate with hints of chocolate and mocha. The soft, ripe tannins make this an extremely enjoyable glass of wine. Perfect with your Sunday roast.

Irish Times

This has a nose of plum and cherry, mixed spice, garrigue herbs and cigar box, the result of some well-judged oak. The palate has a medium concentration of plum and cherry fruit, with good balance between tannin and orangey acidity. The fruit seems quite young (perhaps from young vines?) and fairly light-bodied, but is actually quite elegant and refreshing, and almost "Italian", in its sweet/sour/savoury style. Another rather enjoyable Merlot. 

Wonderfully plum jam nose and lots of crunchy young berry fruit. Very good acidity, a very serious wine.

Jim Wilson, Purchasing Director, Berkmann Wine Cellars

Soft, plummy and quite rich with dark berry fruits and a touch of chocolate complexity coming through right at the finish

David Dickenson, MD 3D Wines

Vibrant and very fruity ... Palate has well defined tannins and ... very good length. Quite rich with plenty of complexity, which can only develop with a year or two... 88/100 (excellent)

Andy Barrow, andys-scribblings.co.uk