Skip to main content

Bolen Family Estates Merlot 2007

     I am a long-time Merlot lover who was never swayed by Sideways' wine snob, Miles. I watched a Cork'd Video where Gary Vaynerchuk interviewed Eric Bolen about his new Merlot, "the World's Best Merlot". If you are a fan of Gary, you know he is very enthusiastic and, usually, guests can't keep up with his level of exuberance. 

     The owner of Bolen Family Estates managed to do this and really sell his 100% varietal Merlot at the same time. He mentions that his winemaker is Tom Rinaldi of Duckhorn Merlot fame, the quality source of his grapes in the Oak Knoll district of Napa Valley and the entire family's passion for the project. After attempting to seek it out here in Houston to no avail, I decided to order a bottle and see for myself. 

     In the glass, the wine was a deep ruby color with pronounced aromas of red fruit-primarily ripe plums, with nutmeg and touches of oak. Rich flavors mirrored the aromas and were balanced with medium acidity and smooth tannins with high alcohol (15.2% abv). An exceptional wine.

     I am certain that Miles never had Bolen or he would not have hated Merlot. Truly yummy!  

Labels:

Comments

  1. mark greenMarch 16, 2011 at 8:05 PM

    agree 100%
    It is one of the best merot I have had. The flavors burst out for the average drinker who I am sure would never experience anything quite like it. At least I had not and the case I bought has been well received by the other social drinkers in our circle. At 60 bucks a pop though, it is not an average pour.

    cheers though!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eric BolenApril 15, 2011 at 5:17 PM

    Thanks for the great review. I appreciate you helping me get the word out about great Merlot. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for reading Wine Life - Houston.

Popular posts from this blog

An Immersive Introduction into the World of Asolo Prosecco

Dinner Views at Osteria Alla Baracca. I was very excited to visit the Asolo DOCG Prosecco region at the end of May on a press trip as it is an Italian area that I have not previously traveled through. Asolo is located in the Province of Treviso at the foot of Monte Grappa in the high hills to the west of the Piave River with views of the Dolomites. The grapes are grown in 17 communes surrounding the town of Asolo. The days were very warm while I was there but I needed a sweater or light jacket on most evenings due to the diurnal swing that makes it a great area for grape growing. Wines from the Master Class Tasting. Asolo was elevated to the DOCG level in 2009. The majority of the Prosecco that I have found in Houston is Prosecco DOC which is mostly from very large producers. Asolo was separated from this category and the region was given this higher status because there are terroir elements that make it distinctive in the world of Prosecco. The Sant'Anna Vineyard. Many of the vin
Post a Comment
Read more

Lust Zinfandel 2007

     My husband loves this wine so he purchased quite a few bottles at a recent Michael~David  dinner that we had attended. Last night, I decided to open a bottle to serve with dinner. I was making a roasted southwestern pork tenderloin, sweet potato fries (w/ chipolte ketchup) and a salad consisting of baby lettuce (fresh from my garden) with strawberries, red bell peppers, red onions and walnuts tossed with a white balsamic-raspberry vinaigrette.      This turned out to be a great pairing. It is a bold wine that really stood up to the strong chipolte seasoning while complementing the fruit flavors. I opened the bottle a 1/2 hour before I served it as I have found this wine to be more enjoyable when I do so.      The Lust Zinfandel by Michael~David 2007  was a dark purple color with a ruby rim. It has intense aromas of very ripe mixed berries and baking spices-both allspice and ginger with hints of cedar. It has flavors of creme de cassis, milk chocolate and also more of the baking
5 comments
Read more

"The Zen of Zin" Tasting at Fleming's in River Oaks

On Friday evening, my husband and I attended the Zinfandel wine tasting at Fleming's in River Oaks. My husband gets totally pumped up for any and all things Zinfandel but what I found really intriguing in the line up of wines were the aged offerings. Brent Sloan, managing partner at Houston's premier wine storage facility Nos Caves Vin, had provided Fleming's with four 18 year old bottlings and one 17 year old bottling from his collection of some of his favorites. I found this interesting because 1. I don't believe that I have ever had an 18 year old Zinfandel before this evening and 2. From various wine classes, I had always heard that at best Zinfandel had very limited aging ability. So, I was definitely excited to give these wines a taste. There were also an additional five younger Zinfandel wines that are some of Fleming's best sellers. The entire tasting line up for the evening included: 2009 Orin Swift Saldo - California 2007 Schulz "Lampyridae Vin
5 comments
Read more