Bringing Merlot Back – Episode #285

July 31, 2007

Gary is trying some Merlot and seeing if Hollywood was right to diss this grape!

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Comments on this episode(258) Leave a comment ›

“I wasn’t drinking wine when I first saw Sideways. When I did start, I…” by ulu ulu ulu ulu
“Bummer about the Souverain. Such a nice label.
QOTD: I wasn’t a hu…” by Phredd
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Wines tasted in this episode:

2005 Falesco Merlot Dell UmbriaUmbria IGT
2004 Chateau Souverain MerlotSonoma Merlot
2004 Charles Creek Merlot PasatiempoOther California Merlot
2002 Beringer Howell Mountain Reserve Merlot Bancroft RanchNapa Merlot

Links mentioned in todays episode.

Oak Monster Tee

258 Responses

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July 31, 2007

Matthew L
Great show Gary. I was hoping the Chateau Souverain would show better. I’ve been fond of their Chardonnay, and think they produce quality at a nice price point. Oh well.

QOTD: Hollywood has little or no bearing on the my real-life choices. I actually had the reverse experience with Sideways. I was a HUGE Pinot Noir fan going into that movie. All my friends gave me a lot of grief when it came out. The movie actually challenged me to get out and try Merlot. Usually when someone picks on a wine, it’s because of the popularity. But, unlike White Zinfandel, Merlot doesn’t deserve the bashing it took in Sideways. Besides, the movie makers played the joke on all by having Miles chugging Merlot with a cheeseburger at the end of the movie.

Hey…Are you going to rock a fresh Oak Monser t-shirt on Conan tomorrow, or will you go a little more upscale with a striped French-cuff shirts with your jeans?
July 31, 2007

James Roscoe
How is your tongue? Get all the splinters out? LOL!
Get rid of those scores! They muddy up the show!
Have fun with Conan!
July 31, 2007

John Witherspoon
…camera fades to Gary 5 years ago….
‘Gary and the oak monster sittin’ in a tree, k i s s i n g…..’

….camera fades to Gary present day
‘Gary in the tree p i s s i n g on the oak monster.’

Nice episode G V. me and the ms. (infamous lurker) loved it and love the Justin Timberlake reference, Megan (the Ms.) says you can bring sexy back too.

QOTD: Sideways/Hollywood/bollywood did nothing to change our/my opinion of Merlot.

Good EP, good luck on COnan tomorrow night, nice haircut.

J DUB and wife
July 31, 2007

yowens
GV- good show, went to Napa recently and found myself enjoying the merlots more than the Cabs. QOTD: Pre-sideways I was drinking the Natural light and the Keystone light.
July 31, 2007

Jon B.
Great show . I can’t believe the Conan spot,if you do half as well as he did on your show today your going to kill it.An oak monster to boot great episode.QOTD Noooooooo I’m not a big fan of pinots (there are a few I’ve enjoyed ) I’ll take a good merlot over a Pinot any day. Thanks GV and WLTV crew. Good luck tomarrow
July 31, 2007

Brian K
Yeah I hate to say it.. maybe not so much Sideways.. but the movement in general.. I’d say that I’m drinking less Merlot’s because that’s not what’s in.
However – I’ll add that I DO NOT drink Pinot’s even though they ARE in.. I don’t care for many pinot’s is all.
But – I did enjoy Merlot’s alot more when I first got into wines.. Now I drink mostly cab’s and we try to find a lot of less popular wines like Amarone’s, tempranillos, petit syrah’s etc..

I’m going to start buying merlot’s again. Your right.. you can find some great qpr’s.
July 31, 2007

GlassRunnethEmpty
QOTD: Hollywood impact me? Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
July 31, 2007

Seth
Hey GV! Thanks for the great show. I ordered three merlots today along with some others in your customer appreciation sale but sadly as I was informed tonight by email, two are already out of stock. Hopefully the other will bring some thunder! Any chance you could taste a few of the wines from the sale this week? Thanks for the great show and keep up the good work!
July 31, 2007

NathanN
The show ROCKED!

QOTD: I drink twice as much merlot as I do Pinot Noir
July 31, 2007

GrapeStuff (formerly known as Donald Pipkin)
GV – great show! Glad to see the juxtaposition to episode #259 (think i mentioned in the comments on that show that you should do the inverse show of the Sideways Pinot Effect – a show on merlot). Anyway, great episode and good luck on Conan – you’re gonna kill it!
July 31, 2007

Greg B.
Ok Hollywood G, I think you might being coming to my home town soon. Leno might be calling next. LOL. Anyway love all Wines, remember?
QOTD. I saw how crazy Pinot prices went, so I knew Merlot prices would drop. Then I drank and drank and I have been pretty happy with the big M ever since. : )
July 31, 2007

amgryger
I’m with Jeffrey, no love for Long Island Merlot? I had the Lenz Merlot a couple weeks back and really enjoyed it.

QOTD: Sideways didn’t affect my opinion of merlot at all. For a while, most of the merlot I tried really let me down, but because I had really enjoyed some bordeaux that was heavy on merlot, I knew there must be other good merlot out there, so I kept looking. And I have started to find a few that I like.

Finally, Good Luck on Conan!
July 31, 2007

ecola
Good luck on Conan, I e-mail 20 or so people to check it out. GV blowin up!
July 31, 2007

dkeck
GV
Love seeing Conan on the show.
QOTD: I love Merlot wine but have been drinking less as I try different wines. However, I really like Washington’s Columbia Valley Merlot wines better than the Merlot wines from California.
July 31, 2007

Alos Diallo
I have never seen the movie so it did not impact me at all. I don’t watch tv and don’t get to see movies much sorry. So I like wine for the qualities that I find important my pallet! Great episode Gary I have not had a lot of Merlot and will give more of it a try.
July 31, 2007

maggiej
Merlots were my favorite before I started drinking a lot of wine. I still like them, but so many of the cheaper ones are over-oaked. I like my oak monster in the closet, just poking his head out.

QOTD: I hated the movie so much and hate the idea of following trends, that I think I avoid Pinot Noir unfairly more than Merlot.
July 31, 2007

wolfie
qotd: i wasn’t into wine the first time i saw the movie, so no impact at the time.
July 31, 2007

Shadowbird
QOTD: I haven’t seen Sideways, and I haven’t been a serious wine drinker until well after the movie, so no, Hollywood has not screwed me up. Yet.
July 31, 2007

Shad
The wine that got me started in drinking wine was a Merlot and I continue to drink it to this day. I am not a huge Pinot Noir fan (a little too light most times for me). SO I will continue to drink Merlot and thanks for the show.
July 31, 2007

TD
LT was a “nice player” ??? Holy bejezzus you Jets girls are cute. I mean c’mon, I can admit yer Joe Kleko kid was alright – he used to mow my lawn back in 89. Did a real good job when I chalked out the lines for him…

QOTD: I saw that flick about two months ago. Not bad at all. I still like all kinds of wine, but I’m even more against ‘last fling’ pre-wedding type weekends. Another movie I should have read first.
July 31, 2007

Joe
nice episode – I share your feelings on the overuse of oak – hate it!

I was down on Merlot before Sideways….but Sideways did drive up (and I am happy about it) my exploration of different Pinot – especially SRH pinot!
Joe
July 31, 2007

kietkopelli
Hi Gary, I always liked merlots. Sidesways only got me to drink more Pinot but my merlot consumption didnâ€™t drop much.

For those interested, merlots from Nickel and Nickel, Paradigm, and Ruston are off the charts. Sorry Gary these are not wines that WL stock but they are worth seeking out.
July 31, 2007

Jeffrey
What, no love for Long Island Merlot today?
July 31, 2007

portland guy
Interesting episode. QOTD – Never was crazy about Cali merlots; but do like the clarets of France, particularly those with a heavy merlot influence. ‘Sideways’ did push me to try more serious OR PNs – and that certainly changed my drinking habits. Drank PNs of Burgundy many, many, many years ago – but got priced out. Nice to discover quality OR PNs that approach some of those Burgundies that I routinely drank in the ’60’s and ’70’s.
July 31, 2007

mas
Thanks Gary – I’m a fan of Riccardo Cotarella and agree that the lower priced Merlot has been disappointing, but the Montiano is usually on point. Best under $20 Merlots come from Washington for me.

QOTD: I just thought Sideways was a great movie – if anything, it got me to try more Pinot vs. drinking less Merlot. Found I didn’t care for most Cali Pinots vs. Old World or Oregon.