The Man With The Hat '22 - Merlot (FR)

There is a certain confidence to a wine that names itself after a man in a hat, and this Merlot earns it. It pours a deep, ruby red that catches the eye before it ever reaches the glass, grown from a single plot in Saint Emilion, farmed organically by Art and Vin, who have spent years learning exactly what this ground wants to grow. The nose is where it really starts talking, cedarwood and ripe plums, black cherries and a whisper of cloves, figs and raisins folded in with a trace of oak, vinified in stainless steel and then given time in French oak to round it all out. On the palate it is rich and generous, dark fruit and warm spice carried by tannins soft enough to enjoy right away. It has picked up an 8.5 from De Grote Hamersma and a Silver at the Global Merlot Masters along the way, but honestly, it does not need the applause. This is the bottle you open when the evening calls for a little more presence, a little more character, the kind of wine that, like the man on the label, does not try too hard to be noticed and gets noticed anyway.

This wine calls for a tender cut of lamb, or on a vegetarian night, a creamy mushroom risotto.