Details

Milan Pischler, keeper of the Restaurant Alt Kitzbühel in Kitzbühel, organised a blind tasting in a circle of selected wine lovers. The topic of the evening (with view to the developments in the Asian markets, climate change etc) was: Merlot of young vintages and the trend towards the production of wines for early drinking.

Following wines have been tasted:

Château Le Fleur Petrus 2004, 2006
Château Petrus 1947 VDM
Château Petrus 2004, 2006
Masseto 2004, 2006 Frescobaldi
Messorio 2004, 2006 Le Macchiole
Desiderio 2004, 2006 Avignonesi
Galatrona 2004, 2006 Petrolo
Patrimo 2004 ,2006 Feudi di San Gregorio
Giramonte 2004, 2006 Frescobaldi
L`Apparita 2004, 2006 Castello di Ama
As pirate: Merlot 2006 Pöckl

We have received the following excerpt of the tasting notes:

Masseto 2004
In the glass almost black with a beautiful rim, with air incredibly opulent on the nose, on the palate first a basket of dark overripe berries, already very accessible, later on the palate dried herbs, subtle aromas of fruit in rum and dark chocolate, slightly spirity with well integrated tannins, stays long on the palate

Masseto 2006
Deep dark in the glass, on the nose first very lactic (Landliebe blueberry yoghurt), feels very round on the palate but little finesse and structure, just tight, opulent, acidity already very well integrated, totally smooth tannins, no no rough edges, seems very extracted, actually a disappointment (the new style of Maremma)

Château Petrus 2004
Incredible how accessible this wine is already, beautiful roasted aromas, first very fleshy, with air subtle truffles, leather and cherries, on the palate multi-layered, complex with playful acidity, a touch of Glycyrrhiza (liquorice) and juniper berries, profound tannins, beautiful play of primary fruit and tertiary aromas of the barrel, no overwhelming weight, very nicely balanced

Château Petrus 2006
At the beginning very dull on the nose, with air it is virtually exploding, fleshy blackberries, lingonberries and leather, on the palate green stem but pleasantly clothy, enjoyable fruit sweetness with very fine tannins, seems very balanced, when tasting again subtle cigarrs, slightly smoky, a touch of myrrh

Messorio 2004
In my opinion the best Merlot of Tuscany, incredibly multi-faceted on the nose, caramel, coffee, dark chocolate and ripe cherries, great acidity, on the palate very well integrated but playful acidity never feels obtrusive, very balanced with enthralling tannins

Desiderio 2004
On the nose vivid fruit, subtle oriental herbs, with air prunes, black olives with ethereous touch, on the palate very straight with no big surprises

Desiderio 2006
On the nose plum jam with beautiful roasted aromas, black olives, subtle pineapple, on the palate more tight than 2004, still vivid acidity, a touch of dark chocolate

Galatrona 2004
On the nose fleshy fruit, a bit pungent, cloves and fruitcake, seems very warm and ethereous on the palate, a touch of espresso and After Eight, well integrated acidity

Galatrona 2006
On the nose first slightly spirity, with air fruit in rum with sweet fruit, on the palate still very inharmonic, detached acidity, vivid tannins, when tasting again prunes and a bit more harmonious, clearly too young or currently a bad phase in the bottle

L´Apparita
In unison, the disappointment of the evening - we thought this is the pirate, simply dull, imprecise fruit, very alcoholic, no finesse

Merlot Pöckl
First of all, congratulations on this wine
First a bit restrained, with air it changes with every minute, basket of dark berries, cherries, plum jam, replaced by coffee, powerful fruity play on the palate, strong like Masseto but not as opulent, much more finesse, incredibly beautiful tannin structure with distinct acidity structure, when tasting again very elegant with dried herbs and very pleasant drinking; the winner of this tasting

In summary, the host draws the following conclusions:

Unfortunately Maremma, home of the great Tuscanies, loses its identity - in the past, this is where wines with character have been produced.

The Bordeaux wines also become more modern, but Petrus still remains outstanding.

The wines from Austria also became more modern (Salzberg etc), but there are still exceptions.

Milan Pischler: "Unfortunately, Pepi Pöckl died much too early, but you can taste his philosophy in every glass of Merlot. Austria has lost a leading figure, a pioneer of Austrian viniculture."