Picardy 2001 Merlot Cabernet PlonkOz04

I love this wine. It is a blend of 45% of Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Cabernet Franc. The sort of wine you can sniff all day, it is driven by sweet ripe floral fruit that opened up beautifully as it had time and the glass. Blackcurrant, chocolate, musket, and aniseed flavours make you sit up and take notice as it builds slowly and keeps going and going. Powdery tannins combined with pure, persistent, deep fruit to form a well-balanced and constructed ample-weight, classy wine. The consistency is firm but supple, complexity is sophisticated and it is already harmonious. A serious Merlot blend, this is worth buying and is rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value and that rating should improve in 2009 and beyond.