2004 Swanson Merlot and Buffalo Frites

June 4th, 2008 by phil

Last Friday at Frisee Restaurant, I cracked open a bottle of 2004 Swanson Oakville Merlot with Courtney Cochran of Hip Tastes.

After an hour of freezing windy tennis, I was ready for some rib sticking action. Frisee has plenty of great options on the menu for sustainable meat lovers. A grass fed filet, a rack of lamb, chutney stuffed pork loin, and a huge filet burger with Point Reyes blue cheese but I ordered the 8oz Buffalo Steak Frites, medium rare. Under the steak, the fries are painted with gravy, and deliciously addictive. Buffalo is a great match for this merlot, the wine acting like a beautiful sauce for the lean red meat.

After years of declining sales, in 2007 merlot had a 6% uptick in sales. Will the Sideways effect take it’s place in the wine history books? With gems like the Swanson Merlot pushing the premium juice envelope, it’s easy to envision a strong regrowth in sales.

My Tasting notes:

The 2004 Swanson Oakville Merlot is silky smooth and lusciously full of spiced chocolate Christmas cake, black cherries, coffee liquor, and black currant. It’s not a huge wine, it’s actually slightly austere at first with a long meandering finish. Quite a personality.

I picked up my bottle from Mark Bright who is selling these gems at cost ( $22) over at Local Kitchen and Wine Shop. A stellar deal on a great wine. Mark has put every wine in the shop on discount, so if you’re looking for a good deal on your next bottle of vino, you know where to look!