I reckon merlot is the type of grape variety that feels it has to keep proving itself.  I can imagine it standing in front of the mirror saying, “mirror mirror on the wall, whose is the best merlot of them all?” to get some sort of reassurance that’s it doing…okay.

I’m guessing the crew at Ruckus Estate didn’t want to put up with ‘okay’.  They set out to find the best clone suited to their soils in Wrattonbully.  They clearly did their research and chose very, very well.

The first thing that grabbed me was the colour.  It’s so deep at the core of it!  Diving my nose in the glass was an assault on the senses.  Wow!  I thought, really? Merlot? 100% Merlot? Yep, sure is.  Name a berry.  It’s in there and playing its part to perfection.

Tasting it was just like smelling it.  The only difference, it hung around for so so long and boy was it smooth, silky and charming.  I think my wife and I said, “I can still taste it” to each other a dozen times or more.

Winemaker Sue Bell must have been smiling like a Cheshire cat when she was handed the fruit and asked to make this wine.

I mentioned on social media it “stands at attention with parade gloss polished boots”.  It’s not just that.  Its uniform is pristine, creases pressed sharp and precise with not a thread out of place.

It’s been dubbed a “game changer”.  In Australia, it is definitely going to be that.

Priced at $50 a bottle (I didn’t hesitate to buy 2) and available online at http://www.ruckusestate.com