What Are 100-Point Rated Wines Actually Like? (All Merlot?!)

We’ve all seen them, the elusive 100-point rated wine. This selection of top-rated Merlot wines teaches us a lesson about point scores and Merlot.

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What's In This Video?

Join Madeline Puckette for a thrilling, uber-exclusive blind tasting of the world’s most celebrated Merlot wines. She explains how Merlot fits into the global wine scene and how the intriguing “Veblen Effect” also comes into play to illustrate the price differences between top wines from regions like Tuscany, Bordeaux, and California’s North Coast.

Get ready for the big reveal! Find out if legendary bottles like Pétrus, San Giusto, and Duckhorn live up to their glowing reputations and (sometimes) jaw-dropping price tags.

Notes and Sources

  • Special thanks to J-L-C for opening up their cellar for this tasting. We couldn’t have done this without you.

  • This tasting was set up as two single-blind tastings with reveals between each tasting. Tasters knew what bottles were being tasted but not the order. You could call it a “casual” blind. The goal wasn’t to identify the wines blind but to obfuscate the brands so that the price bias was less present.

  • Masseto was mentioned as being in Bolgheri. Technically, the wine is a Toscana IGT, and the new winery (as of 2019) is in Bolgheri. The vineyard is Toscana IGT.

  • Château Lafleur “Les Pensées” is indeed a second wine of Château Lafleur. On their website, it says, “a much-coveted second wine.”

  • San Giusto - In Italian, the “gi” is pronounced like “j”

  • We were not paid by any winery mentioned or included in this video.

  • Sideways Movie 2004 excerpt cited with fair use. All ratings cited with fair use (e.g. ratings not used for marketing purposes).

Wines Mentioned


Pétrus

Château Pétrus

2012 Pétrus

Pomerol | Gironde

Little known 50 years ago, this château has seen the rise of a myth about the uniqueness of its wine. The wine’s inimitability is due to many factors including an exceptional terroir. The vineyard is 40 meters above sea level, the highest point of the appellation, and has a layer of heavy clay soil and an iron subsoil. These are ideal conditions for the expression of the Merlot grape. With such a special terroir, the approach in the vineyard and cellar is traditional and respectful.

Opulent fruit.

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Saute-Loup

Château Pétrus

2014 Saute-Loup

Pomerol | Gironde

Reserve de la Famille Made in small quantities exclusively available to the family and friends of the Château.

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Roberta's Reserve State Lane Vineyard

Kapcsándy Family Winery

2011 Roberta's Reserve State Lane Vineyard

Yountville | California

From our State Lane Vineyard crafted to rival the best of Bordeaux, and produce compelling wines of the highest caliber in every vintage.

Well balanced and absolutely delicious. Medium-bodied with a supple mouthfeel.

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Masseto

Tenuta dell'Ornellaia

2015 Masseto

Toscana | Italy

To open a bottle is to unleash a liquid kaleidoscope. A rare combination of sumptuous opulence and polished elegance. As a tribute to its rugged force, its softness, and the debt it owes to the soil from which it rises, Masseto was named after the rock-hard clusters of blue clay called ‘massi’ that form on the vineyard’s surface.

In the mouth it becomes sensual and rich, with great density and an ample and perfectly smooth tannin. The fruity notes are underlined by the subtle presence of oak terminating in a fresh and vivid finish with pronounced hints of cocoa.

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La Ricolma

San Giusto a Rentennano

2018 La Ricolma

Toscana | Toscana

Produced from 100% Merlot grapes, coming from the areas of our vineyards particularly suited to the characteristics of the vine, harvested by hand at perfect ripeness.

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L’Apparita

Castello di Ama

2015 L’Apparita

Toscana | Toscana

L’Apparita, the first purebred Merlot produced in Tuscany, has been an iconic wine since its initial harvest in 1985.

Cherry, plum and berry aromas and flavors is accompanied by a vibrant, uplifting structure. A full body with firm and silky tannins. An intense finish.

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La Muse

Vérité Winery

2016 La Muse

California

Every hillside, every elevation and every aspect offer us a different micro-cru. The pure expression of these unique sites has from the beginning defined our winemaking philosophy.

The flavors on the palate unveil layers of black fruit, toasted cedar, and cassis along with hints of melted dark chocolate, wild thyme, browned butter, and cinnamon. Marked by powdery yet firm tannins and bright acidity, the wine carries its structure with effortless grace. A stony minerality is revealed throughout the elegant, lengthy finish—a signature character of La Muse.

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Napa Valley Merlot Three Palms Vineyard

Duckhorn Vineyards

2019 Napa Valley Merlot Three Palms Vineyard

Napa Valley | California

Since our inaugural 1978 vintage, we have been proud to craft a vineyard-designate Merlot from the legendary Three Palms Vineyard. Named for its three iconic palm trees, this warm, up-valley vineyard features lean soils that cause the vines to send their roots deep in search of nutrients, yielding a profoundly intense and age-worthy wine with complex fruit and mineral layers. As a testament to its status as the benchmark for New World Merlot, in 2017, Wine Spectator honored our 2014 Three Palms Vineyard Merlot as “Wine of the Year.”

On the palate, firm tannins and undercurrents of energetic acidity add brightness and poise to lush dark berry flavors, while promising a long life ahead.

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Les Pensées de Lafleur

Château Lafleur

2020 Les Pensées de Lafleur

Pomerol | Gironde

Founded in 1987 by Sylve and Jacques Guinaudeau, Les Pensées is among the greatest wines of the plateau of Pomerol. Historically a m

Generous aromatics, richly textured, powerful and earthy, signature Pomerol with the deft touch of Lafleur. Opens wide and generous and then tightens and grips. This is a gorgeous wine filled with black cherry, damson, mocha, orange zest, all with a whisper of anise.

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La Conseillante

Château La Conseillante

2020 La Conseillante

Pomerol | Gironde

Pomerol just would not be Pomerol without La Conseillante at its heart. With its unique geographical situation on the Catusseau plateau, the vineyard of La Conseillante covers different nuances of soil-type, making up a patchwork of terroirs that is its special hallmark.

This 2020 is fruity, creamy and concentrated. The juicy texture is enhanced by velvety, silky and elegant tannins. La Conseillante 2020 is a bright wine, full of promise for decades to come.

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