[ex-Texan]

There was a time when I had a 'wine cellar' of sorts flled with good to great wines and many great bargains. French, California and Italian wines. A few Germans, too. So which California winery was the best ? Debate that all night but I was fond of Ridge and Cakebread and a dozen others.

Now I am happy to find a good wine from Oz, or Chile, or the West Coast ..... Happy to see dinner guests smile at $ 10 a bottle, too.

[Clemenza]

Never liked Merlot, particularly the cheap stuff which had a "woody" taste to me. I regularly drink Cousiño Macul or Santa Rita Cabernet from Chile, although I've lately grown fond of Ephrath Vineyards Pinot Noir from Oregon. All of these wines, BTW, retail for under $15.

Now if only we could get our girlfriends to stop buying Pinot Grigio...

[patton]

Ick. Wine, chocolate. Gross.

On a bet, I will drink Eiswein - If it is our anniversary, and my wife wants some. Otherwise, gimme a BIER!

[Teacher317]

Sterling Merlot is a favorite for my sweetie and me!

[stboz]

Delicato Shiraz and Merlot are inexpensive and taste good to me. So what if I like brake fluid, too.

[Grim]

Personally don't care much for merlot. Think it does better in a blend with other grapes. However, anyone interested in exceptionally well made single variety merlot should check out the following wineries: Whitehall Lane, Leonardini Vineyard, Newton, Coppola, Shafter, Forman, and Truchard. All are in Napa and Sonoma.

A good article about current trends in merlot growing can be found here. Wine enthusiasts will also find St. Helena viticulturalist Richard Nagaoka's "Ask the Grape Doctor" series of articles interesting too.

[tpaine]

We are getting some very drinkable california merlots in the discount stores for as low as $2.99. -- Vendange, Oak Vinyards '99 -- I'm sort of leary of buying buy the case though, as I have no idea if these cheap merlots will age well.

Anyone know?

[southernnorthcarolina]

But first, what is merlot? It's a red grape; in fact, it's the dominant grape grown in most of France's Bordeaux region.

A highly suspect statement, IMHO. Robert Parker estimates that the average formula for red wines in the Médoc (a subregion of Bordeaux which includes the great majority of its most notable wines) is on the order of 60-65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20-25% Merlot, and 10-15% Cabernet Franc.

[Clive]

Merlot and Gamay Noir are good basic safe wines to serve with red meat.

I had avoided red wine for years because it gave me a headache except for Beaujolais Nouveau.

Trouble is the Nouveau arrives in November and should be consumed by Christmas. (Otherwise you can use if on fish & chips.)

Every November we party on escargots and nouveau.

Then one day when I was shopping for a wine to serve a guest. The vintner suggested a red. I complained that the only red that did not give me a headache was the nouveau. She suggested that I should try other new wines as my headaches came from drinking aged wines. She suggested a Gamay Noir or a Merlot.

It is not what one would ordinarily think of serving a guest, but they are both good conservative choices and they don't cause headaches.

For watching a ball game or a cricket match, beer or ale is better than wine, but wine is a staple with evening meals.

My cardiologist also recommends a glass of red wine as being good for the heart.

[St.Chuck]

Spent much of last year downing Beringer's Founder's Estate 1998 Merlot. Couldn't get enough of it. We've exhausted the supply around these parts. Thought it an exceptional wine for around $11.00. Haven't found anything to replace it yet.

[ccmay]

Merlot is a pleasant grape with (usually) rather weak tannins. I think it became so popular because 1) it's so much easier to pronounce than some others (Comte Georges de Vogue Musigny anyone?) and 2) its soft, fruity taste ensures that you can give it to women to drink without fearing they will wrinkle up their noses and go 'Eeeww! This is so sour!'.

I hardly ever drink it, except in Bordeaux-style blends. There are a few famous Merlot-only bottlings including especially Chateau Petrus and also the Ornellaia Masseto from Tuscany. I had a bottle of the 1995 Masseto last year in Florence and it was one of the best things I ever drank. Well worth the $150 it cost me.

However, these great wines are exceptions to the rule of flabby, undistinguished Merlots on every restaurant list. Give me a good Cabernet or Shiraz any day.

-ccm

[CatoRenasci]

Well, the taste buds of the chattering classes finally catch up to what everyone in the wine business has known for hundreds of years: with rare exceptions like Petrus and Cheval Blanc, Merlot does not make a particularly complete or complex red wine.

That's the reason it has been primarily a blending wine, for color and sometimes body, especially in Bordeaux where it ripens earlier (and more reliably and -shh... is easier to get away with chaptellizing) than the more complex Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec grapes.

If you look at the 1855 classification, which has its faults, but is reasonably accurate, you will find that most (3 out of 5) of the top wines (First Growths) are from Pauilliac -- where Cabernet predominates in the blends (Mouton is up to 85% Cab), the exceptions being Margeaux and Haut Brion. Other than Cos D'Estornel (St. Julien), most of the 'super seconds' are also Paulliac: think the two Chateau Lalandes and that perennial 5th growth favorite, Lynch Bages.

In California, merlot was virtually unknown before 1970, when some people decided to bring it in as a blending grape to make more Bordeaux-like Cabernets.

Merlot became popular because of the ignorance of one man: Robert Parker. This self-taught "expert" did not (and to this day I would argue does not) understand Cabernet, and its life cycle, which requires a lifetime of study and a certain 'feel' for it. When he started tasting in Bordeaux, he was not enamoured of Paulliac wines because they were not straighforward and, in those days, built to be drunk at the age of ten or older, rather he was attracted to the simple, fruiter, less complex, less ageworthy wines of Pomerol and St. Emilion, where merlot dominates. Parker almost singlehandedly created the demand for merlot. It worked, because it requires no effort of understanding on the part of the drinker. But with any sophistication, one tends not to like merlot: a typical (pretty good) merlot has a fruity, decently grapey nose, and a good entry into the mouth. In the better merlots, the middle palate (the taste in your mouth as you hold the wine in your mouth) is good, but in most, the middle palate is very flat tasting. And with rare exceptions, merlot has a short, uninteresting finish. The reason the finish is poor is a lack of adequate tannin.

In my life, I have found but one Merlot (other than the biggies from Bordeaux) that I could drink with pleasure: 1985 Matanzas Creek. I actually bought three cases (1 in mags all aging nicely) of it.

[time4good]

Santa Rita from Chile
What a hoot!! I saw this wine at the local gourmet deli around the corner. I'm a once-in-a-while and usually liking a Chianti Ruffino Reserva Ducale but this Santa Rita was so smooth that my neighbor and I each ordered a case. His was gone in a month. I still have two bottles but enjoy it every time. Best little find in a long time.

[stumpy]

I remember being broke at Camp Pendleton, when we'd pool our resources and buy a 1/2 gallon jug of "red mountain" wine at the grocery store in Oceanside for $2.49.

Made for some bad hangovers.

[Sen Jack S. Fogbound]

A couple of years ago, the Consumer Report magazine recommended "Walnut Crest" Merlot. "Taste like $25 wine!"

I tried it for $5.87 and found it to be quite good.

[krogers58]

Does anyone have any good links where the "winologically" naive amongst us, could go, to get an "education"?

[Verax]

If your a regular Merlot drinker...try Canyon Road ($9.99) You will love it. If you're looking for even cheaper, try Barefoot ($6.99) Both of these are Gold medal winners.

[rintense]

I love merlot and will be sure to try these. I've heard that Chilean wines are exceptional. I'm also a fan of white merlot- a cross between white zin and merlot. After tasting this, I can't drink white zin anymore because it's too sweet.

[sockmonkey]

Out here in the cedar breaks of the TX Hill Country, sterno is popular, however, William Lectric Shave, strained through stale white bread has a good nose, and is perfect for festive occasions.

[oyez]

Dave Barry's review: "Taste like bat urine." Funny, nobody finished theirs.

[LouD]

Merlot is OK in a pinch, but it always seemed sort of bland to me.

I prefer Chianti or Barolo, or a Shiraz for something lighter...