Bummer, but that’s how it goes sometimes! Robert Karl is right here in Spokane w/me so that’s a huge bummer.

QOTD : my fav’s are 03 Uriah, 05 Dumas Station, 05 Leonetti, Walla Walla Vintners w/some age on it.

One one bad merlot sticks out……BAREFOOT! ERP!!

Very interesting show Gary, despite the disappointing results. Hey, tell your wine selectors to toss a duplicate bottle in to one of your future blind tastings – I’d love to see what happens!

QOD – Best = Leonetti from Washington. Worst = who knows.

Surprising you had a corked wine today. I had a bottle the other night that I think was corked, but I don’t really know. Funny, it was a champagne, a Moet small bottle–had very little fizz, my wife who loves champagnes disliked it. It was a very weird taste. I did not like it either but it did have a little finish that was buttery. Anyways, is there such thing as a corked champagne? or, was it just a really bad vintage?

I think it would be instructive to have people taste a corked bottle when it is discovered just to see what it really is verses just a bad wine.

Hey, Gary, As they say in science, even negative results tell you something. Great show.

I think you are probably harder on the wines that others would be– such as your dad– so it’s quite possible this isn’t such a bad Merlot showing, but an average Gary day where you have no reason to skew your scores higher.

As I am a 95% under $10 wine drinker, I’ve been drinking lots of Merlot for a while now, and I almost never find much objectionable about it. It’s true, however, that since I’ve been watching WLTV, I have become more sensitive to oak.

QOTD: I have not drunk a memorable Merlot in quite a few years now, either for or against.

keep up the blind episodes! I love em! do some pomerols pleeease! i appreciate the honesty!

love the blinkers on shows.. especially when you nail the regions

Longtime lurker (started watching on TiVO downloads; they’re fairly intermittent in pushing through the web content, so I supplement on ITunes). As requested (pleaded?), I’m writing to say that I do indeed like the blind tastings. While I like most of the episodes, in large degree because of your willingness to say what you think, I like the blind tastings because they not only teach me some new things, but seem to get even more of that honesty.

Thanks for doing this – I do really enjoy the episodes.

And definitely, yes, your dog should be a rescue dog. . .

I have drank a lot of good Fruili Merlots (castella spessa, Ronco del Gelso, Franco Toros). Have not enjoyed any good Californian Merlots, but most of the ones I have tried have been from the lower price range.

LOL @ the J-Lo reference!

I am not drinking any fuck!ng merlot!

Did you know that ironically Miles’ fav wine in Sideways was Cheval Blanc which is usually 50% merlot and 50% cab franc. Yes, Merlot! Oops, Hollywood. I’ve liked Mission Hills Okanagan Merlot (2002 vintage the best) for the money. But I was blown away by the fruit (I don’t think this level of fruit can be replicated for less $20) of the Muleskinner Merlot 2003 by Spring Valley Vineyards in Walla Walla. Sorry your show bummed you out. I still buy Merlot.

I like the blind tasting

Best merlot was a Delectus from 2000 that a good friend gave to me as a gift. Worst merlots are everywhere you look when trying to stay with “value” priced wines.

Gary,
Gotta love this EP for keepin’ it real, but definitely awkward and what a shame following your generalized plug up front. PLEASE consider for the next time you do a blind tasting of merlot (or perhaps any varietal for that matter), you have a ringer in the wings to show at your discretion. That way if virtually all the wines suck (which has happened before in WLTV blind tastings), then you taste and describe(!) for folks something that redeems your point. Otherwise you’re left saying at the end “Well just trust me everyone, merlot really is good stuff”. Whenever we do tastings at home, we always do this. It just makes sense if I open a string a bottles where most or all are lame, I have something in reserve that will likely save the day. Life is way too short to drink shitty merlot, even for demonstration purposes.
QOTD: Best we ever drank was a 1994 Leonetti Cellars (in 1994). A stunning wine that somehow rivaled the outstanding 1992 Journey Merlot from Matanzas Creek we drank alongside it, which Parker had called the best in the New World. Stepping outside U.S., we recently drank a 2001 Falesco Montiano Lazio IGT – purchased at WL a few years ago – that was nicely aged and had loads of texture and complexity.

Cited wrong year in my last post and can’t edit. It was late ’95.

Gary: I am one of those lurkers that never leaves a comment because I watch on TiVo. You’ve hinted you’re not going to do this anymore if more people don’t comment, so here I am. Actually, there was a huge gap in episodes on TiVo for some reason. It stopped somewhere in the 600’s and didn’t pick back up till into the 700’s. Anyway, I think this show was GREAT. It was REAL and you call ’em like it is. Your honesty and trustworthiness are your biggest assets and I believe shows like this go a long way toward reinforcing that. You do your tastin’ and takes your chances. Sometimes it works, sometimes the wines bomb. I really can’t answer your QOTD because I haven’t had any Merlot in quite some time. But that’s not because I have something against it, but moreso because what I’ve been eating hasn’t been the kind of stuff that would pair well with it.

As a thought, maybe you just don’t like Merlots. I know you champion them to counter Sideways but we are who we are and you are…not a Merlot guy. Those wines are trash but I’ve watched you give other junk wines love because they are in your pallet’s center.

Best: 2001 Masseto

Worst: 2003 charles Shaw

What a spread, huh??

Sorry Gary I am one of those guys that doesn’t really like merlot. It wasn’t the movie though! I didn’t like it before Hollywood told me to hate it.
QOTD: Best: Can’t remember, but I have had a couple I really liked. Worst: is Duckhorn. Paid $79 in a restaurant and hated it. Sorry Gary. Probably needed to be opened 3 hours before we got there though..

I’ve been an advocate for well-made Merlot for a while, but I have found a ton of lackluster domestic Merlot within the last couple of years that are still in the market. At least the prices are soft enough (usually) to make it worthwhile to continue to try some.

QOTD: Best- (Especially for price) 2003 Storrs Merlot, San Ysidro District, Monterey, CA

Worst- Franzia Merlot…sorry to pick on you, Franzia, but it’s just true.

Best Merlot Motntes Alpha from Chile @ world market

I enjoy your blind tastings… its cool, i wish i could do it more often.

Best Merlot: No contest–Reserve Merlot from Chateau St. Jean. Every year we go there it is almost unanimous for wine of the day with our wine tasting group

Worst: Lots of mediocre ones–not one stands out

Hate to say it, but I kinda enjoyed watching the show blow-up; you handled yourself with poise. I recently bought a Whitehall Lane ’05 Napa Valley Merlot that I am looking forward to popping.

love the blind tastings…even if they don’t always work out.

best merlot would have to be from Seven Hills in Washington. I’m a big fan of both their Columbia Valley and Walla Walla merlots.

worst is a tough call. i also dislike that flying fish, but i really hate the red rock.