A correspondence of May 2009 between Luca Bein, Convenor of the Vinpro Merlot Varietal Group (and “Proud Merlot producer”) and Michael Fridjhon, Chair of the Trophy Wine Show. Reproduced here with the permission of the authors.

1. Luca Bein to Michael Fridjhon

Dear Michael,

Thank you for the transcript of the discussion from the Trophy Wine Show judges feedback session. It is always very interesting to read and a good reflexion of the tasting's background. However, I sadly had to realize that Merlot has been made again to the scapegoat of the nation. I refer to the following statement from the Merlot panel: "We were disappointed in the Merlots, as we were told we might be before the event, very hard and green and not many Merlots showing the true plum, ripe, blocky tannin structure that Merlot should show – a combination of the wrong areas and obviously the wrong climes, which this country suffers from as does Australia."

It appears that the panel didn't like Merlot from the very beginning. What a negative approach for a tasting – and a classic case of a self-fulfilling prophecy!

Secondly, "... true plum, ripe, blocky tannin structure..." is not a definition of a Merlot but of a style. Luckily, Merlot is much more than this, so allow also for fruit, elegance and complexity and you would find the gems.

Thirdly, the terms "...very hard and green ..." in connection with SA Merlot is a platitude of the past. As judge of the SAYWS and VERITAS Merlot panel, I was privileged to follow the progress of the SA Merlots over the last six years, and I am more than pleased about the fantastic improvements of my producer colleagues.

And last but not least, the above-mentioned conclusion is an insult to every serious Merlot producer in South Africa, in fact to all producers. You shouldn't forget that at the latest Young Wine Show, the General Smuts Trophy for the overall best South African wine (out of over 2000 entries!) was awarded to a Merlot, and the same happened in 2005. And at the most recent International Wine and Spirits Competition IWSC, which is held in London and is regarded as the world wine industry's premier judging event, the South African Hartenberg Merlot 2005 was awarded the trophy for the best Merlot of the world. Admittedly, these tastings haven't been arranged by members of the ruling SA wine press fraternity.

Luckily, the consumers are more open-minded and reward our efforts with excellent sales in this category. So it remains to hope that your guild will eventually overcome its prejudice against home-grown Merlot and starts to honour the efforts and merits of the South African Merlot producers too. Perhaps a more positive approach to Merlot would allow in future more positive results.

With kind regards

2. From Michael Fridjhon to Luca Bein

Dear Luca

Many thanks for your letter in connection with the OMTWS 2009 transcript. I'm pleased that it was able to provide you with some of the feedback from the show.

I don't think it's fair to describe Merlot as having "been made" the scapegoat of the panel. No scapegoat is required, as far as I can tell, since it's not as if SA is competing against anyone else, or that one class of wines is in competition with another.

I think you draw much of that conclusion from the remark "as we were told we might be before the event" and you have assumed from this that the paries doing the telling were "members of the ruling SA wine press fraternity." Here you are making an assumption which does not tally with the reality.

The speaker who made that remark could have heard that comment about Merlot from one of his fellow judges, from a colleague abroad, from people with whom he was chatting at one of the dinners or events before the show.

I do brief the panels before the judging. I try to lay guidelines in terms of the style I would prefer to see rewarded – I am not completely prescriptive (in other words, while I feel strongly about some styles I am also keen to see a range of style among the final medal winners). I would rather see a good example of style I don't particularly like winning the top medal than a less good example of a style I personally prefer. I recognised that in matters of aesthetics there are no absolutes, whereas technical winemaking issues are more easily quantified.

Accordingly you are wrong to suggest

a) that the panel did not like Merlot from the beginning
b) that there was any prescription to produce winners in the "plum ripe style."

However, insofar as the comments made at the report back session are of value to the industry, I think you should, as the convenor of the VINPRO Merlot Varietal Group and a "Proud Merlot producer," at least recognise that the criticism was not based on platitudes from the past. The judges had made their way through over 60 Merlots and their remarks were based on that experience.

Instead of treating remarks like these as calculated insults (for which there can be no justification) you should acknowledge that, notwithstanding the progress of which you are obviously proud, the category as a whole does have problems. The success of some select Merlots at some competitions does not change this – in fact, the wines which have done well should serve as a beacon to those producers who still have considerable progress to make.

I appreciate your interest in writing to me about this

Kind regards

3. From Luca Bein to Michael Fridjhhn

Dear Michael,

Thank you so much for your prompt reply to my letter regarding the comments of the Merlot panel at the OMTWS. I appreciate that you took the time to answer in detail. In fact you said many things that make sense, but again, throughout your letter I can perceive this negative tenor about Merlot. So perhaps, is it in the end just a question of like and dislike!? But I don't want to discuss this here further, since all I wanted to bring to your attention was said in my first letter.

This said, I would like to assure you that we do acknowledge your vast experience in the wine show business and your efforts to the benefit of the wine industry. On the other side, you should also recognise the Merlot producer’s endeavour for improvement. In fact, we made serious attempts to pinpoint what our critics call “green”, but the task is not easy. It actually all starts with the difficulty to make out typical samples.

So why not take our discussion a step further and combine our efforts. I would therefore like to ask you whether you could possibly provide us with typical samples of “very hard and green” Merlot wines. It would be highly appreciated, if we could sit together and discuss and analyse them on a fair and scientific base. Perhaps this could help us in finding the way in the right direction.

I hope you don’t find this to pretentious, and am looking forward to your answer.

With kind regards,

PS:  ever visited www.merlotforum.co.za ?

4. From Michael Fridjhon to Luca Bein

Dear Luca

Many thanks for your reply. I think there are issues with Merlot in general (just as there are with Shiraz – a fact forgotten as some of the better sited vineyards are yielding decent fruit for the first time). However, with Merlot the problem is compounded by the number of producers who blend unsuitable wine into their Cabernets – thus compromising the blend – and the relatively low number of specialist producers. When there are 15 – 20 creditable shirazes in a show, people forget about the disappointing 120 – 140 other wines. With Merlot the average class size is small and there are very few standout wines from among that number – in other words, Merlot's shortcomings are more visible.

I would have no problem going through the judges scoring sheets and identifying wines which had been flagged for green characters. If this exercise is to study such wines, I cannot imagine the producers could have an objection to this information being circulated between other members of your group – they should anyway have requested the panel's comments if they weren't happy with the result.

I will attempt to obtain this information and revert

Regards