Comparing Wine Merlot Thomas Baron Reserve Saint-Emilion VS Frontera Chile Concha Y Toro

I always love Merlot. But just last week I learnt that it's originally from Bordeaux and can be grown in moderate to warm climate. What's nice is Merlot has a medium acidity and medium tannin, means that you wouldn't have to smirk your eyes while drinking and the medium tannin can compare to drinking a soy milk, not as heavy as full cream milk, but still has a medium after taste. I think it's one of the red wine that I can drink without having to pair with food. But ofcourse you can pair Merlot with certain food too. Merlot normally blend with higher tannin varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon to achieve a certain blend and on the other hand Merlot adds red-fruits flavours to Cabernet Sauvignon. If you study the map of France, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot origin is seperated by the Gironde Estuary, where the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers meet. Cabernet Sauvignon is protected by Left Bank Appellations and Merlot is protected by Right Bank Appellations. An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication. It is most often used to say where the grapes for a wine were grown, but it can also be used for other types of food. Not only Bordeaux that produces Merlot.There are some New World that produces Merlot and today I will compare the French Bordeaux from Saint-Emilion 2019 and Merlot from Concha Y Toro Chile. Old World vs New World. I know if we compare from the price, Sant-Emilion is slightly more expensive from Chonca Y Toro. But hey, let's try.

Merlot comes from the Bordeaux area in the south-west of France. Because it is close to the Atlantic Ocean, it has a moderate climate with a lot of rain, can be harvested every year.

Merlot ripens well in Chile's warm and dry Central Valley and can be harvested every year.

From the colour, both has deep ruby colour with medium intensity. From the nose,Sant-Emilion has red fruits character, you know all those raspberry, strawberry,red cherry and red plum with secondary flavour of cloves and dried fruit for the tertiary aroma. At the mean time, Concha Y Toro more herbaceous, has red fruit character, black fruit and earthy. Now from the Palate; Concha Y Toro is dry, has a high acidity proven from how much saliva produced in your mouth, high tannin, medium body and very pronounced also has a medium finished. Saint-Emilion also has a high acidity and hight tannin but since the climate is cooler compare to Chile, but it express lower and the complexity of the wine is higher, but both has the same medium finished. However, the Sant-Emililon s is more balanced and refined. All of the components of the Concha y Toro are tasted in distinct stages, and it lacks the seamless transition and integration of the Bordeaux Merlot. Which one is your favorite?