Four Gates Winery

After hearing enough about the winery, I finally called up to place my order. I was then engaged in a half hour conversation about wine making, the effect of oak, blending across vintages, and other interesting topics. Binyomin Cantz is a fascinating individual who, in his words, has three jobs: farmer, vintner, and salesman. I ordered three wines; the 2006 Merlot 'La Rochelle,' the 2006 Cabernet Franc, and the 2007 Chardonnay.

Tonight, over a plate of Celebrity brand Chevre, Chevington's Red Leicester, walnuts, and cranberries, we enjoyed the 2006 Merlot "La Rochelle.' I'm not sure if this is a vineyard designate or just the name of a companion. Anyway, the wine is very dark and opened with a strong bouquet of... oak. There wasn't much noticeable fruit for the first half hour or so as this wine took a long time to open up. It was very tannic on the palate and didn't yield an inch of its essence until much swirling and sloshing later on. Finally, after waiting an hour and filling the glass with a steady pour right into the wine (to mimic the effect of decanting) the wine finally opened up to some wonderful dark fruit flavors to balance out the still formidable but not overwhelming oak flavors. This wine is very concentrated and still extremely tannic and moderately acidic (this is three hours out already), which means there is only a wonderful long life ahead of it.

All in all, I'd say this is a wine to revisit in a year or so after some of the intensity wears off. I probably would have guessed this wine was a Cabernet Sauvignon if I was tasting it blind because of the dark, rich flavors as opposed to the more aromatic, milk chocolate overtones that I associate with Merlot. Anyway, a great experience, and a wine to try again. Only available directly from the winery.