Merlot is celebrating a special day today - November 7th is International Merlot Day. It's time to remember how this day was recorded four years ago, at the Trilogija winery. "It was a long time ago, today it is mentioned...". Soon, we hope, everything will be back to normal.
It's November 7th International Merlot Day. Merlot lovers never need a special reason to open a bottle of this great wine. But when it comes to International Merlot Day, it was a good reason to celebrate it and to remember the known facts about this planetary popular wine.
If you were to ask the average wine lover what the most common grape in Bordeaux, France is, many would answer without a second thought that it is Cabernet Sauvignon. You won't believe it, but that's not true! There are more hectares planted with Merlot than any other grape variety in Bordeaux. To put this into perspective, statistics say that close to 62% of all wine made in Bordeaux is merlot, and the merlot grape occupies about 69.138 hectares. The area under the Cabernet Sauvignon variety is only about 25% of the total area in the Bordeaux region, which is close to 28.347 hectares. (data from 2013).
Merlot is not only popular in Bordeaux. In fact, it is the most widespread grape variety in France! Merlot also thrives in Switzerland, Australia, Argentina and many other countries, as well as in America. But Merlot offers its best expression in the Bordeaux region.
That France is not the only good place where the merlot grape variety thrives, from which the most popular wines are made, is evidenced by the Trilogija winery in the town of Banja, next to Arandjelovac. The reason for the visit was, of course, the aforementioned celebration of the International Merlot Day.
The town of Banja, where the winery is located, is in the heart of Šumadija, between Arandjelovac and Topola. Trilogija Winery is a "boutique" winery, and the position of the vineyard is on a plateau, where the winds blow constantly, and the sun shines from sunrise to sunset. The view of Oplenac, Rudnik, Venčac and Bukulja makes a stay at the winery unforgettable. The owner of the winery, Dragan Mijailović, told us that he planted Merlot and Cabernet Franc, because he followed the expert findings of the laboratory at the Faculty of Agriculture in Zemun, which established that the composition of the soil is ideal for growing the Merlot variety. "The production capacity is designed to be up to 10.000 liters of wine per season, because quality (not quantity) and the satisfaction of our consumers are important to us," Dragan Mijailović told us.
Finally, a few words about the celebrant: the Pečat varietal red wine from 2016, which we tried, which consists of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and which, according to Dragan Mijailović, really bears the stamp of the climate where grows. The ratio of aromas, tannins, acids and alcohol in this wine recommend its consumption at a temperature of 16 to 18° C, from a "balloon" glass with a capacity of about 600 ml, with beef in a sweet and sour mushroom sauce, Gouda, Parmesan and cheeses with blue mold.
Apart from Pečat, the Trilogija winery is proud of two other wine brands: Privilege i Virtue. Privilege is a rosé made from 100% Merlot, and Vrlina is made from the Chardonnay variety. Both wines have been awarded: Privilege was awarded a silver medal at the BIWC international competition in 2017, and Vrlina was awarded a gold medal at the 13th meeting of producers and wine lovers in Arandjelovac in February 2017.
Finally, not to forget: Trilogia Winery with Merlot Barique Seal 2016 entered the world map of exceptional wines - Robert Parker 90 points - OUSTANDING!
More details on the website: http://vinarijatrilogija.rs
Originally published: 08.11.2017.
READ: WHERE CAN I BUY THE BOOK TRADITIONAL RECIPES OF HOME SERBIAN CUISINE?
Read more:
The Recipes and Kuvar online portal is ranked among the TOP 50 websites in Serbia!
Don't miss a recipe - Recipes and cookbook online on Facebook. Stay tuned, follow the Recipes and Cookbook twitter notifications!
