GV…How can you guess the price of a wine when you often preach that the correlation between price and value is very often not in line?? What up with that??

QOTD…The worst…I had an ’03 Gundlach Bundschu Merlot which I felt absolutely blew for the price. The best…Gimme a generic Columbia Crest or Chateau St Michele and I’m more than happy.

QOTD: I think the best merlot I recently had was from Brys winery in Michigan. I think the worst was Coppola’s merlot maybe from 2005, but that could have been because it was young at the time.

I do not really enjoy merlots because they are full-bodied, over-oaked, or just to young when I drink them. The worst part is probably the price. Michigan prices for Cali wines are redonk. Why pay $20-30 for a merlot, if I could save half of the price and drink something I know I will enjoy. Great episode, though!

QOTD: I think the best merlot I recently had was from Brys winery in Michigan. I think the worst was Coppola’s merlot maybe from 2005, but that could have been because it was young at the time.

I do not really enjoy merlots because they are full-bodied, over-oaked, or just to young when I drink them. The worst part is probably the price. Michigan prices for Cali wines are redonk. Why pay $20-30 for a merlot, if I could save half of the price and drink something I know I will enjoy. Great episode, though!

…The MI merlot lighter in body, which was why I like it. I do not enjoy the fullness of the wine.

Bummer on the Merlot. Damn. I think you should do another one right away. I was in Walla Walla a couple of months ago and one Merlot I bought for my shop was the Woodward Canyon 06, very nice. Also the Shafer….come on… it’s $$ but yum. Good show.

Bummer on the Merlot. Damn. I think you should do another one right away. I was in Walla Walla a couple of months ago and one Merlot I bought for my shop was the Woodward Canyon 06, very nice. Also the Shafer….come on… it’s $$ but yum. Good show.

Save the monthly wine clubs and what not, my wife can’t watch these shows, but today she loved it. The fact you were so taken aback, and at times speechless made her day.

Historically i have not like American merlot because i find them to be all over the place. only rarely hittin the note right for me.

Thanks for the Great episode. Keep ’em coming!

Hollis

Love the WineLibraryTV shows, yes I am slack on the comments, sorry. Still getting into the wine tasting scene and developing my palette. I have found that Merlots do tend to be variable and I find that I will be far more likely to buy them if recommended by a friend to try to avoid the poorer ones.

QOTD: Best – One from back home (man I miss it) Wirra Wirra Merlot, McLaren Vale, South Australia must have been around 2003. Was with great friends and was a nice smooth wine with great company.
Worst – Probably out of a box and served by someone who will remain nameless more recently but they should have known better. Just makes you appreciate home.

shows like this are what its all about. classic. i enjoy the guests but its always the best when its a one man show, gary. but as the wines go… kind of a fall through its cool though always a good episode when your the WORLDS most passionate wine show !

Gary,

If anyone asks, we’ll say it was a draw between you and sideways – uhhh, good show anyways!

QOTD: That 2006 Duckhorn is just fine and its the only one that comes to mind. Llano (Texas) is probably the worst I’ve had in a while. Oh, and by the way, every restaurant and its mom have been pimping out that bottle of Duckhorn, I think that they might be in trouble…

Yo G, Looks like Ya woke up some “lurkers”….. 🙂

Ugh! Well, it could have been a better show if you would have had some decent Merlots. I will say that inexpensive (< $20) Merlots from California generally suck, in my opinion. You can get a $20 right bank Bordeaux from a small estate and it will be better than the Cali 95 times out of 100. Some of hte worst wines I have ever had are inexpensive Merlots.

QOTD: Try some good Merlot like Boudreaux and Bookwalter from Washington State or Ehlers Estate from Napa. Bad? Oh, there are too many to list, but how about Summerfield Merlot that they serve in the Continental Presidents Club at the airport – UGH!

Ugh! Well, it could have been a better show if you would have had some decent Merlots. I will say that inexpensive (< $20) Merlots from California generally suck, in my opinion. You can get a $20 right bank Bordeaux from a small estate and it will be better than the Cali 95 times out of 100. Some of hte worst wines I have ever had are inexpensive Merlots.

QOTD: Try some good Merlot like Boudreaux and Bookwalter from Washington State or Ehlers Estate from Napa. Bad? Oh, there are too many to list, but how about Summerfield Merlot that they serve in the Continental Presidents Club at the airport – UGH!

Oh, and embarassingly, TWICE I didn’t get it with Pahlmeyer…but I’m sure it’s just me, or a bad day… Hey, you just had three loers in a row. Stranger things have def. happened.

Should have went with Pomerol and St. Emilion. Best, Corte Riva, Twomey, Petrus. Worst, haven’t had something that qualifies.

GV,

I’m fairly new to the wine world, and I’m taken aback by the mention of Romania. That’s were I’m from and I wanted to buy some Romanian wine from a specialty shop. Could you elaborate on the quality of these wines? Are they really that bad? Let me know. I’d appreciate it and yes this was a awkward show.

Gary,
The world producers have taken advantage of the $10 – $15 wine category. Why try to sell someone a decent $15 Merlot from California when you can sell them incredible values from the southern Rhone Valley, Spain, Argentina, South Africa, southern Italy, Australia, Portugal, etc……..

Too many bad Merlots to list. Best Merlot ever……maybe Pride Mountain or Leonetti.

Just to get the nums up… hi gary. hope you and the family are well.

Awkward show GV,

I didn’t expect that: Only 1 out of 6 to be a 90 pointer.
You should try some Chilean & Argentinean merlots.
Even thou merlot is not my first choice grape (cabernet & malbec tie for first) I had some nice merlots from those countries.

QOTD: Don’t remembers the best, the worst was a Concha y Toro Reservado, in a friend’s party. Really cheap and one dimensional. A Jug wine.

Best wishes,

Mauricio Fernandes
Brazil.

Weird, yet still cool show, yea Merlots are definitely out there but, it seems that one needs to choose a few Wine makers and stick with them, because even though good Merlots are more scarce, they are definitely made in consistency within certain regions or vineyards, like Washington State, Napa Valley, etc. The best bottle of wine (Reds) I can remember leaving a stain on my brain and palette was BACCA BELLA-NAPPA VALLEY 2005 and the worst bottle of wine that I can remember, was a Chianti, I think 2005 or 2006, It was way too bland,It had no taste at all.

good show, you can’t always win.

QOTD: I don’t really drink much Metlot, more of a Cab drinker.

We’re watching. I use iTunes to watch podcasts, so if the stats aren’t picking up, I’m sorry. Why doesn’t Apple give you the stats?

I took a wine appreciation class in college and the only take-away from it was that Burgundy is #1, Bordeaux #2, Italy is too complicated, and California was all fake. Another take away is that Merlot should be used as a mixing grape. That stayed with when I moved to San Francisco and couldn’t find French wines for sale.

Oh how much I have to learn! I discovered your show last year and have been hooked ever since. I’ve learned so much about wine that I’m branching out into places you haven’t covered (from what I’ve seen). I had a wine from Hungry recently that I loved (tomato plants on the palate).

QOTD: I need more experience.

I went back to watch this show a third time, and I am adding my third comment. I want to add to your Mount Eden comment. I totally agree with you that there is way too much oak in that wine. It is so much so to the point where it becomes distracting. I now view that as one of the worst Chardonnays that I have ever had. What was Parker thinking?

By the way, in my first post, I asked what it meant when a wine was said to be corked. I haven’t seen anyone answer this question. I am only assuming that it means the wine smells like cork. But how does one tell? Is it very obvious? Does it smell like vinegar? Not long ago, I bought a bottle of the 2000 Chateau Cote Montpezat from the Wine Library based on your tasting notes. It tasted absolutely aweful, and I was wondering why you rated it so highly. At the time, I just assumed that you and I had different palettes, and I never went back and tried a second bottle. Now, I am wondering whether that bottle was “corked”. Please educate me.

I’m one of those iTunes/iPod lurkers coming out to comment. I have to say I was more entertained and learned more from this show than any for a while. I always enjoy the blind shows and your struggling to find things to like about these wines was similar to my drinking experience so far. I rarely spend more than $20 on a bottle and am trying to figure out what I like and don’t like. Hearing why a wine is bad (corked even) gives me more to go on when I’m tasting.

I’m one of those Merlot drinkers who went big into Pinot Noirs because of “that movie.” Now, I drink just about any red I find interesting.

Thanks for the education. Keep helping us rookie/value drinkers find good wines.

Talk about SNAFU city, no audio, a bunch of crappy wines one overpriced wine and a corked wine to round out the set. I think you need to do a re-do on this episode and try again.

I think this was taped the day you found out your MRI results so you could have been pissed off at the wines because of that…they didn’t bust your knee.

QOTD: This episode was soooooo off kilter it doesn’t deserve a response.