If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes even better than that, as is the case with today’s wine from Rosenthal – The Malibu Estate.

Mission Codename: Malibu Merlot… Merlot Malibu

Operative: Agent White

Objective: Get our hands on the latest release from Rosenthal.

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Rosenthal – The Malibu Estate

Wine Subject: 2004 Newton Canyon Merlot

Winemaker: Christian Roguenant

Backgrounder:

But did you know that the unique climate of Newton Canyon in the foothills of northern Malibu also provide the idea conditions to grow Cabernet Sauvignon? Network Canyon is a single vineyard AVA on the south-facing slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains and was formally designated in 1996.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Intense dark purple with garnet edges with long slender legs when swirled. This wine is also inky in clarity.

Smell – Medium intensity with ripe fruit flavors of blackberries, dark cherries, boysenberries, oak and spice. As this wine opens up, you’re treated with a hint of vanilla.

Feel – Full-bodied, smooth and dry, but with well structured tannins and bright acidity that enhances the tart fruit.

Taste – Big, solid, but well integrated fruit flavors of blackberries, ripe blueberries and cherries and a complex layers of oak, vanilla and spice.

Finish – Long lingering finish that lingers with its fruit, oak and spice components.

Conclusion – This Merlot is an exceptional wine that shows a distinct structure, solid fruit, well integrated spice and oak that will please even the most discerning palates. This wine is perfect to enjoy either by itself or as a complement to a great meal of grilled meats, pasta and even the sharpest of cheeses. We enjoyed this exceptinal wine with some great P. Jacquin Selles Sur Cher goat cheese, crudités and fresh figs and pears.

Mission Report:

Long time operatives know that while most of California’s great wines hail from Napa, Sonoma, Monterey and even the Central Coast region, there exists a fine winery, just a few miles up PCH from downtown Los Angeles in the hills above Malibu. At Newton Canyon AVA, only one winery grows grapes. This area while hundreds of miles south of the premier growing regions in California is know for having the ideal climate for Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

It is this 2004 Newton Canyon Merlot that is the subject of today’s wine. Rumor had it that after the difficult 2003 vintage that Malibu was back. 2004 was a great year in Napa, and indeed other parts of California, but in Malibu too? Most definitely! Our inside asset Agent Blanc had smuggled a couple bottles of Merlot out early in the year with specific instructions. Do not reveal this vintage until I get formal notice to you. Just to be careful, I removed the labels from the bottle. I couldn’t compromise the wine or Agent Blanc.

The bottles of Malibu Merlot were immediately taken to the lab for full analysis. The tasting panel went crazy after tasting it. Arguing that this must be a Napa wine, others arguing this must be a Sonoma wine, all agreeing however, that this Merlot in particular had something special about it. Something indescribable, an elegance, complexity and richness not usually seen in Merlot.

Blind tastings are fun, especially when you are the only one that knows what your drinking with and the others do not. It was hard to keep my mouth shut. Not even Agent Blush knew the reality of this exceptional Merlot. (Its hard for me to keep anything from Blush; for she is trained in the most intense interrogation techniques given her previous work behind the lines in the DPRK.)

Just last week, in an urgent wire, Agent Blanc said we could reveal the truth behind the Merlot. When I informed those who had tasted the wine that this was the latest release from Rosenthal, nobody questioned it, instead, they knew the truth. Exceptional wines are the norm in Malibu. And this Malibu Merlot is no exception.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Rosenthal – The Malibu Estate’s Newton Canyon Vineyards can be seen in this satellite photo.