Merlot -- Eden Valley, Australia

Once again, our travels hit a snag as we tried to fly from Beijing to Adelaide in South Australia, but with only two stops, we made it. Thankfully tomorrow's travel will be much faster. 

After arriving at Adelaide International Airport, we hopped in our car and drove a bit to the northeast. Having two route choices, we took the one that started due east and then headed north just skirting Mount Crawford Forest slighly to our west before arriving in Eden Valley. Of note to us are the trees growing in the forest -- mostly pine with a fair number of eucalytpus.

Eden Valley is a small town, but also the center of an Australian Geographical Indication. It is said to have gotten its name when local surveyors looking at the land in this unnamed place saw the word "Eden" carved into a tree. It sits at about 460 meters / 1510 feet. It can be quite warm there although high temperatures in the summer are usually not quite 30C/86F, temperatures have been known to exceed 40C/104F. Winters are quite temperate with typical lows around 6C/42F and only a very rare night seeing temperatures below freezing. The land in the area could be described as rolling -- hilly, but by no means mountainous.

While Merlot is by no means the most commonly grown grape here, its expressions are notable. As Merlot goes, these wines are huge. They are big, bold, and meaty, much more so than many that we will encounter on our Merlot journey. While nearly all will drink young, the better representations from the area may cellar for up to 15 years.

The Merlot here is quite acidic in nature, but fools us a bit on the palate as the acidity does not come through in the mouth. We get notes of black currant and cranberry, mocha, vanilla, and eucalyptus leaves with plenty of soft tannins.

Pair these wines with ideally with meat -- lamb, but also with both beef and veal. And, since the acidity does not come through on the palate, keep away from dishes that include particularly acidic vegetables like asparagus and tomatoes.

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