Five Rivers Merlot 2010, Paso Robles

Mission San Miquel, Paso Robles

So, I'm not sure I follow the winery's reasoning behind it's name. It supposedly is drawn from the five elements of nature, although I was only aware of four elements... earth, air, water, fire. They've added time. I'm sure Einstein would agree, so far be it for me to dispute genius. And, I get it. It takes all these "elements" to create wine, with sunlight being the fire, I suppose. So, that accounts for five elements. However, I was only able to find reference of ONE river, the Salinas, in the Paso Robles wine region and, if you count the hot springs, maybe two. Whatever. 

Hot Springs Resort, Paso Robles

Let's move on... the area has a long history of wine production, since 1797, with vines that were tended by Spanish Conquistadors and Franciscan monks. Proud of it's wine-making past, the original vats, owned by none other than Francisco Cortez, are on display at Mission San Miguel. The Taurus in me is thinking, "Uh-huh." 


While the hot springs, with it's world renowned mud baths, provided abundant revenue from tourist dollars, it's the wine production that has been the reason for the area's growth. 



That's the hype, let's get to the wine.

One thing I noticed was that the wine is 98% Merlot, with only 1% Syrah and a smidgen of both Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Odd blend, to me. On the nose, I smell caramel and plum, with a slight floral aroma I can't quite make... not lavender, but that's the closest I can get. The initial flavor is cherry, but there's some cocoa and what I would call holiday spice with it. Nice mocha finish with a little cinnamon. Overall, an excellent wine for my tastes. And, extremely affordable. SRP is around $10. I'm leery by nature of a lot of what appears to me as superfluous hype, but I will definitely buy this wine again.

In the short time that I've been trying wines, I've come to the conclusion that Merlot was made for chocolate. Luckily, I had some Tollhouse semi-sweet bits that tasted like heaven with it. However, I also tried it with some Romano and mozzarella cheeses, and it was really good with them, too. Although the label recommends hearty meat dishes, I think it's a little weak to work with really spicy or rich food. But, since it conjures up warm-fuzzy sentimentality for me, I would pair it with comfort food, such as meat loaf, roast turkey or my own homemade chicken pot pie. But, seriously, it's made for chocolate or, even better, tiramisu. 

Dear Lord. I'm sure I just put on 10 pounds with that thought alone.