Merlot

The wine

Very little tannin is the first thing this glass gives away. A Merlot usually has some grip to lean on. Here the grip barely shows, so the wine has to stand on fruit and acid, and you know that within the first sip.

They are plain about it: brighter berries, a darker cherry, and the two of them do all the work. Those same fruits lead the sip. The wine is light-bodied and fruit-forward, and the middle never fills in. What you get is fruit in a light mouth, not a red that gathers weight as it goes.

Bright acidity is what keeps that from falling flat. It lifts the berries and gives the cherry a tart line to lean on, which is the work a firmer tannin would have done. Balance sits there. Fruit first, acid answering, tannin so slight it never frames the glass. The wine drinks easy because nothing in it is heavy, and that ease is also the limit. A Merlot likeness is in the fruit. The frame is not.

The close is simple and slightly tart. Fruit steps back, the tart edge remains, and the glass ends without a second idea. Pour it when you want the red fruit and can leave a sterner Merlot on the shelf.