Celebrate Merlot!
Let me ask you something – what is your relationship with Merlot? Are you still under the influence of Miles?
Believe it or not, but movie Sideways had an impact on consumer’s attention to Merlot – up until two years ago, I couldn’t see Merlot wines on the shelves of my neighborhood wine store – simply for the luck of demand.
But situation is changing, and people are happily asking for and drinking Merlot again. Over the past 2 month, I had at least 4 Merlot or predominantly Merlot wines, which were outstanding, from Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Long Island New York and Macedonia:
Merlot deserves an utmost respect as it makes wonderful wines on its own (Petrus or Masseto, anyone?), and it also plays perfectly well in the blends.
November 7th is an International Merlot day, and all you have to do is to find a bottle of your favorite Merlot, open it, [invite your friends over – however, this is entirely optional], and have fun. Better yet, find a bottle of Merlot you never had before, and be surprised. By the way, how are your Merlot skills? Do you think you know everything about black-skinned grape? You can test your knowledge with the Grape Trivia quiz which I used to run every Saturday – here is the one about Merlot.
Merlot is well worth your attention, so please don’t be Miles. And if you got a second, leave a note for me below about your favorite Merlot wine. Cheers!
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Vieux Chateau Certan, Anatoli. I know it’s a blend but most years highly Merlotized. A real treat that I can’t afford in most years. Every once in a while though.
We truly need time machine to be able to afford good Bordeaux, Bill. But thanks for sharing – may be I will get lucky one day 🙂
The best merlot I ever tasted was a well aged James Irvine Grand Merlot from South Australia’s Eden Valley, I wish I could remember the vintage, but needless to say it’s an iconic Aussie merlot and now well out of reach on the average wine drinker. I still remember the jammy blackberries
Thanks for the note, Sandra. This seems to be an overarching theme “…if I could only afford this wine now” – this is sad. Does it really have to be like that? Might be a subject for another post…
Ha! Love this… and the moment that Miles renounces Merlot shows one more of his flaws. Sure there is lousy merlot, but there is a ton of great merlot pout there, and very worthy wine, indeed. Duckhorn Merlot is one of the California merlot I always keep on hand, as well as a half-dozen Bordeaux bottles.
I should’ve finished the post with the fragment when Miles drinks his Chateau Cheval Blanc with the burger… In any case, yes, there are tons of wonderful Merlot wines all around. By the way, you need to go visit Long Island wineries – their Merlot is outstanding…
Anatoli, I totally agree with you, when a Merlot is great, it is wonderful. Can you imagine how wonderful Chateau Cheval Blanc and the burger from Daniel Boulud would be.
John, to tell you the truth, I can’t imagine the taste of Chateau Cheval Blanc – I would love to experience it though 🙂 As far as burgers go, I had the famous Daniel Boulud foie gras burger (it was okay), but the best burger I ever had was at the little joint in Newport, Rhode Island, called Mission – this was “out of this world” experience.
Love it!