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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August 1, 2007

james
I haven’t watched one min of this vid but don’t know how you would leave out WA merlot!! I’m bias of course because I live here but WA has been making D-I-N-O-M-I-T-E merlot for years!! I’m going to stop now and watch the vid otherwise I’ll type on FOREVER on how WA doesn’t get the respect it deserves!!
August 1, 2007

Jake
Wasn’t a big merlot fan before Sideways or after. Didn’t even see Sideways until a couple of years after it came out. It was alright. I found Paul Giamatti hard to watch in that role. Sad how American decided to switch to Pinot right after that though. Shows you the influence of movies in this culture.

Congrats on the Slate write-up. I checked in to read Slate as usual and there you were. You’re all over the place right now. Mike Steinberger is a good wine writer — he’s taught me alot about wine.
August 1, 2007

wannaBconnoisseur
I love Merlot!!

Q: I’m drinking more and more merlot these days, wasn’t really influenced by the movie.
August 1, 2007

charles
QOTD: It wasn’t sideways it was the glut of merlot in the late 90’s so much crap flooded the market
August 1, 2007

David M. Roberts
QOTD: When SIDEWAYS hit the cineplexes, I was just starting to enjoy wine, and I began with pinot noir. My Dad liked merlot, so the film justified my thinking and limited experience at the time: I was a cool guy in the know, while my Dad was a dinosaur.

I soon realized that pinot is an easy way to segue into the more serious reds, and I also began to find many pinots watery, and gravitated more to the merlots, zins and cabs.

So, remember the “F” word when making evaluations based on Hollywood: FICTION!
August 1, 2007

BigBob
Oak is a winemakers tool used to cover up bad fruit…

Never been big on Merlot unless its Petrus or a QPR from Chile.

It is best used as a blending grape to take the edge of harsh young Cabernet rendering it drinkable earlier.

I hope I can stay up for Conan…
August 1, 2007

BobMac
I’ll be honest: I drank less merlot after that movie. I’ll be honest again: I just drank my first merlot in years just week.
August 1, 2007

Harold
Sideways affected my Merlot consumption (and I didn’t even see the movie) but it swung me the other way. I had been off Merlot because it had been such the hot wine but after seeing the “Merlot” scene for the 1000th time I said “F it; I’m going back to Merlot.” I’m such a rebel.
August 1, 2007

Mike
QOTD:

Hollywood doesn’t affect me…whether its the politics, the wine of choice, or the subject matter, Hollywood’s opinion hardly matters. That being said, I did enjoy Sideways! Its a shame that the Merlot sales went down. The very fact that they did shows how many people didn’t actually pay attention to what the movie was saying. In fact, the character was making the case that Pinot Noir was his favorite wine for such and such reasons, and the metaphor was that Pinot Noir was similar in nature to himself. Anyways….
August 1, 2007

Acousticdoc
I’m still with you Gary! I have just fallen off the wagon as far as lurker status goes.
QOTD: I was new to wine when Sideways came out and definetly avoided Merlot for no good reason.

Can’t wait to see you on Conan.
August 1, 2007

Richard Slechta
Sideways… A godsend to my wine experience. Here is a movie that gave popular culture permission to critically analize and even dislike a genre of wine. Merlot, boy there are lots of bad ones out there in my book they had it coming to them. Anyway, after seeing sideways it opened a whole new world. First thing we did, was plan a vacation to the wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley to enjoy the gorgeous countryside and find out for ourselves what this haunting Pinot thing was all about.

How about a Sideways winery Merlot recommendation. Check out Blackjack Ranch’s Merlot Billy Goat Hill 2003. Wow! now that’s something for Jack to knock back.
August 1, 2007

Cyd
Honestly, living between the Napa Valley and the Sierra Foothills, the wine trends of dissin’ Merlots and consuming Pinot Noirs was well underway before “Sideways” was even a screenplay. I personally think pretty much all wines can be made well and not well at all. I would drink a merlot if it was well made and I would turn my nose to a poorly made Pinot as well. I can’t stand when some people only drink “Cabs” or only drink “reds”. If a wine is made well, its good no matter what grape and what color.
Anyway…. Good luck tonight! I’ll be watching.
August 1, 2007

ktw
QOTD:our merlot consumption did not change, we never saw Sideways and we are not easily influenced by Hollywood (except watching you on Conan tonight)
August 1, 2007

AppellationMan
QOTD: Sideways dropped as I was getting into wine and honestly, it has been a struggle to get into Pinot Noir. It took some really great Pinots (in my opinion) to get me past the movie and into a place where I could respect that evil woman of a wine for who she is.
August 1, 2007

AppellationMan
QOTD: Sideways dropped as I was getting into wine and honestly, it has been a struggle to get into Pinot Noir. It took some really great Pinots (in my opinion) to get me past the movie.
August 1, 2007

AppellationMan
QOTD: Sideways dropped as I was getting into wine and honestly, it has been a struggle to get into Pinot Noir.
August 1, 2007

Matt the Lurker
QOTD – alright, I admit I started drinking more Pinot Noir. But I also started drinking more Merlot. I guess I just started drinking more after I watched that movie. But to give you credit as well, it was WLTV that got me to start drinking in front of my computer. So, thanks WLTV!
August 1, 2007

wineaddict
Didn’t get to see Sideways guess I really didn’t miss much from what I here.

QOTD: Merlots are one of my favorites as all reds.

Good luck tonight with Conan, Wifes taping it for me I have to work. DARN IT!

MB
August 1, 2007

Neil
I’m surprised that the Falesco fared so well. I tried it once and didn’t like it at all, granted that was a couple of years ago.

QOTD: The only way that Sideways changed my drinking habits was the price of Pinot shot through the roof. As a result I’m drinking a lot less Pinot and a lot more of everything else. (That Silverado Merlot you tried some episodes ago was really good.)

Good luck on Conan O’Brien.
August 1, 2007

winelynn
GV,
Merlot is not one of my favorites , it was that way before Sideways.
Good luck on Conan’s show!
August 1, 2007

Jeff
QOTD: Maybe just a little.
August 1, 2007

Robert R.
Hey there GV! Im a new vayniac and I’m digging it all! Great show and thanks for all your hard work! I’m out here in LA and im turning all my friends on to WLTV!

-Robert
August 1, 2007

PaulT
Gary, did you change your video encoder? Doesn’t look so great, there are some “interlacing” artifacts.

QOTD: Sideways didn’t change my merlot drinking behaviour, but did make me check out some more pinots, since I wasn’t very much into them.
August 1, 2007

Autoproxy
QOTD – only way that Sideways affected me is that it is forcing me to buy the same Pinot Noirs I used to buy at higher prices. Damn them for that.
August 1, 2007

BK
QOTD: Sideways didnt influence my decisions at all. However, I would imagine that for the people that were already into wine it wouldnt have. That being said, it did have a noticable imprint on the price of Pinot, so somebody out there was watching and being swayed.
I still enjoy merlot as much now as I did before.
Now go rock the crap out of Conan!