foodwineclick

Romantic dinner for two? Pull out the big guns: Duckhorn Three Palms Vineyard Merlot

Stretching Merlot Wine Pairing in October
With our annual month-long focus on Merlot we love to test the limits of red wine pairing. At the cabin for the weekend, Julie had planned a Korean-inspired dinner (think kimchi) so I decided to test out Merlot in that context. Knowing the dinner would feature spicy flavors, I chose a wine from our samples which I thought would represent the ripe fruit side of the Merlot spectrum. When I think of a high quality ripe fruit Merlot suitable for a special dinner, Duckhorn Vineyards rises to the top of my list.

There really are three palms in the vineyard! I was driving in Napa last fall and happened to see this.

Disclosure: Our Wine Pairing Weekend blogging group received a variety of wine samples from the #MerlotMe wineries for our October posts. No other payments were involved and all opinions expressed in my blog posts are my own.

Duckhorn Napa Valley 3 Palms Vineyard Merlot 2014 (sample, $98 SRP, or online here)
Eye: Clear, deep ruby with a purple rim. Legs are stained purple
Nose: Clean, medium+ intensity with the aromas coming out of the glass to greet you. Bright ripe blackberries, ripe with cinnamon and vanilla behind the fruit. Nicely done.
Mouth: Medium body, medium+ acidity, medium+ tannin. Flavors dominated by the fruit, medium+ finish. This wine will age nicely 5+ years, but is very enjoyable right now.

Seoul-Ful Chicken with Minted Cucumbers and Duckhorn Merlot
Julie found this recipe in a Cooking Light cookbook and there is a link to the recipe here. The minted cucumbers sound refreshing but they pack some spicy heat! The chicken will remind you of teriyaki chicken. Cooked on the grill, the meal is easy but full of lively flavors and textures. We added a refreshing tomato salad we love with the last of the fresh local tomatoes for the season. It’s cooling off fast in Minnesota!