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EP 803 Another Merlot Blind Tasting

Gary revisits Merlot in this blind tasting of wines around the world, with some interesting results.

Wines tasted in this episode:

2005 Chateau La BienfaisanceSt Emilion
2007 Bellanotte MerlotFriuli Venzia-Giulia IGT
Segal’s Fusion RedIsraeli Kosher Wine
2007 Osso Anna MerlotNapa Merlot

Links mentioned in todays episode.


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Tags: Blind Tasting, merlot, red, review, Video, wine, wines

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  • NY Pete

    Chris Mott Rules … that is all.

  • NY Pete

    QOTD … 2002 Ehlers Estate Napa Valley Merlot

  • vinoreviews

    Recently the best merlot I have had is a 2005 Keenan Reserve Merlot. That said I would have to say that in the under $20 price range I enjoy Washington State merlots.

  • Luv Luv Luv when the blinders r on.

    QOTD:
    Fav Merlot was the 1999 Sulivan Merlot, Rutherford, CA

  • jordenm

    Hey Gary,
    Gotta agree with everyone else, blind tastings rock.

    QOTD: While I'm not a huge merlot drinker (something that I should definately correct) I tasted an '07 Merlot from Dominique Portet at their winery in the Yarra Valley. It was lush and full, really not what I was expecting at all. I think they're one of the few producers in the area that do a straight, 100% Merlot.
    J.

  • Phredd3

    Shafer has a specific note about “Sideways” on their website. They claim their merlot sales increased following the movie's release.

  • Wil Frykman

    QOTD: Easy to answer, not easy to justify the purchase. Without any doubt, the best Merlot I've ever enjoyed is the 2006 Amuse Bouche, Napa Valley.

  • RANDINTHECITY

    GARY!!
    :o)
    I cant seem to add a “website” when I leave comments… ???

    I totally agree w/ur views on over-oaked wine!

    QOTD: I like Duckhorn.. :o)

    Love ya Gary!

  • mrpat56

    Nice episode. Sideways was an interesting movie, but I don't pick my wines on their recommendations.

    QOTD— # 1 1982 Chateau La Conseillante
    #2 more recently-a super excellent napa merlot- 2004 Blackbird proprietary red

  • dmcassidy

    Can't say its my favorite, but I recently had a Reininger merlot that I thought was good.

  • Great, tight blind tasting show again…kudos to KMurph on the selections too.

    QOTD: Like I said in my response to Tonyt87, I've had a lot of good Italian Merlots and Merlot-based blends. My entry level Merlot way back in the day was c/o my Chilean fam…Santa Rita.

  • JasonGonzales

    I just did a blind scoring (It's easier to know what Gary is going to score the wine if you know the price)

    Based on the number on the bag
    1 – Guessed 86 -Score 88
    2 – Guessed 89+ -Score 90
    3 – Guessed 83 -Score 83
    4 – Guessed 73 -Score 78

    You too can try this at home!

    QOTD: I'm very new to wine, so I haven't tasted a Merlot (or at least, one that I like).

    However, I have been trying everything… SO, does anyone have recommendation for a good and memorable Merlot????

  • mikeyz

    qotd: my fav merlot is from 14 hands in Washington State. mainly a restaurant wine, but ive seen it in store for like 9 bucks. great flavor, easy drinking, and inexpensive. cant beat that.

  • nightfilm

    “Sideways” did the high-end Merlot vintners a huge favor as it thinned out a lot of the low-end stuff. The high-end stuff never really went away. Thanks for your comment.

  • MikeDag

    QOTD: Favorite all-time would be the '06 Angelus that I had at a tasting. Fantastic stuff, which I could afford it. But damn was it good…

  • jeffisrad

    QOTD:
    My favorite Merlot is the one I had when I was 21 years and 5 days old. It was the Halloween of 1999, and I was partying with some friends in Chico, CA (apparently, Halloween is HUGE in Chico… of all places). I was trying to impress this girl dressed like Marilyn Monroe, so I offered to buy her a drink.
    “What do you want?” I asked.
    “A merlot,” she replied.
    After asking the bartender for “Two Merlowz!”, I was shocked when he brought back two stemmed glasses with some sort of red juice in it.
    That was the night I found out that Merlot was not a brand of beer, but a type of wine…
    It only took me a few more years to discover that Merlot was, in fact, a GRAPE.
    Oh, the memories…

  • Anonymous

    Going on Cabernet experience and not Melot I would suggest any Washington state Merlot. Columbia Crest for your value play would be good or Waterbrook. As for expensive Merlot, do some reading and ask around.
    Hope this helps. 🙂

  • David M Roberts

    Your Oak Monster reaction on the last wine startled my seven month old son who was sitting on my lap! One of the more hilarious things I have seen. 🙂

    Thanks, GV, for teaching my son Henry James the horrors of the Oak Monster at such an early age.

  • Anonymous

    Ake it easy dude! Get well!! 🙂

  • cellarrat5

    Blind tastings are fantastic, but throw Mott in the mix and it would be the perfect storm of THUNDER!!!!!!!

  • Love the blind tastings. I think this makes the most objective scoring.

    There is a special place in my heart for Merlot. This type of wine is what got me started drinking red wines when I was in my 20's. However, after a few years, I discovered more exciting wines and left that old friend far behind me. Perhaps it's time I start revisiting that old friend.

    QOTD – Too long ago to remember

  • billc87

    '02 Farella Park Merlot was very nice!
    Love the blinds.

  • Anonymous

    Kmurph- It was great to see you mixing it up. But how about throwing in a ringer. Something that would knock off GV Jets hat and the the rest of could see what he thinks.Dreaming of fine wine.

  • Duckhorn Three Palms Merlot is my favorite, I think its by far the most interesting Merlot to come out of Napa.

  • Generic Eric

    I used to enjoy Sterling's “Three Palms” merlot. It used to be a terrific wine (80's vintage) before Sterling was taken over by Seagrams(?).

    An interesting show might be a taste off between Duckhorn and Sterling “Three Palms” merlot from the same year. Duckhorn sources these grapes from Sterling.

  • Brian Gray

    im surprised you didnt taste paper bag, the wine kept hitting the bag!

  • scottEJ

    Thankg, G. Little does your beard know, it's going to around a little longer.

    QOTD: Ehlers & Luna come to mind.

  • Altboy97

    I agree with a lot of the comments that blind is great and the pace of the show was excellent. (Also agree with San Diego who?) QOTD – I like Merlot, but typically don't pick it out as my favorite. Not offensive, but not memorable either. Mostly enjoy it in a blend.

  • pawncop

    I really enjoy the blind tastings. Would look forward to the true blind tasting where you do not know the wine at all.

    QOTD – a fairly inexpensive effort, 2005 Tin Roof Merlot from California.

  • Awesome show Gary V! Love the blind tasting episodes

    QOTD: 2004 Umbria Merlot another Italian Merolt

  • Good story Jeff, awww memories indeed….

  • Boom goes the dynamite! Way to go Friuli!

  • winemaniac

    Hi Gary, Once again, a great show. Wanted to point out the difference between double-blind and single-blind tastings. I once read, single-blind is where you do not know the origin and vintage but know the grape, whereas double-blind you do not know absolutely anything about the wine before pouring it. On another note, I am in the process of preparing myself for wine exams and wanted to know if there were opportunities to intern at your store. Thanks.

  • mikebest

    Jim Irvine's 1999 Grand Merlot, but to be honest i reckon every vintage will be right up there. It's from Eden valley Australia, it probably costs about $50 – $80 and it tastes what you might think magic would taste like. I would love nothing more than you to review it Gary, it totally knocks what the generic perception of Merlot is out of the ball park. Come on Gary you know you want to, apparently it's better than Petrus and as i've never had Petrus and i'm guessing you have either you can send me a bottle of Petrus or review Jim Irvine's Grand Merlot, I'd be happy with either.

    Cheers,

    Mike

  • you wanna know more about wine? drink…. nice one~ 4+ bottles a week resulted in 10+ lbs this past year and drastic reduction in exercise….so I've been drinking, then spitting them out….(well, about 1/3 of it). I gots to get me an Eagles dump bucket…damn Eagles, brings me to tears….

    QOTD: never really had Merlot that tickled me the right way….so can't say best all time…but recently had an 05 Zenato Merlot Delle Venezie….had the traditional Italian soil + meaty flair to it that kicked any Cali Merlots I've ever had. I do appreciate Merlot for it being food friendly.

  • Great show!! The blind taste is awesome, try the Rosenthal – The Malibu Estate
    2004 Merlot very nice! happydiabetic com

  • b777capt

    Love the blind tasting shows. I just wish I could pick out the wines – I think I could keep you on your toes and provide an opportunity for some wine geek info.

    QOTD: The best merlot I've had was a Blankiet Merlot from Paradise Hills Vineyard followed closely by a Pahlmeyer.

  • Jason, your youthful enthusiasm (which resulted in this blind scoring thingy) is enviable.

  • Mott, you gotta reply to this one….it's almost 10pm….

  • lordsauvignon

    Mott did not link it up today… 🙁 Mott…
    GV…”pissed” seemed to be your word of the day today…very aggressive, nice…

  • Dominic C.

    About my favorite all time Merlot, not even having tried it, I'm going to say the Havens 2005 Caneros Merlot Reserve. Though, by default since in my entire wine drinking experience, it would have to be… 2 buck chuck Charles Shaw. The only other merlot I've tried is the Franzia Wine in a box vintage 2006. I've been going for red blends and regional locked reds while avoiding the more mainstream reds.

  • Oude Hendrik

    Looking down my list, it appears that I haven't had that many pure Merlots. For the most part, Merlot is usually just one of the ingredients. Of the pure Merlots I guess I liked the 2005 Turnbull the best. Of the mutli-varietals, the highest scores always go to either Chile, Bordeaux, or South Africa.

  • QOTD: I must admit I have not had Merlot is a long while. I know one of the key theme of this show to to expand one's palate. Mea Culpa! However, I am willing to give it a solid effort and I am looking for recommendations for my fellow commentors here. I'd like a recommendation for a $20 and a $50 Merlot. What do you guys suggest? Thank you in advance for your assistance.

  • gregfletcher

    New guy here. I was the 'beverage head' for a Cost Plus for seven years, currently writing wine classes to be conducted at a Wine Styles in Torrance in the South Bay here ine Southern California. Anyway, I'm doing a Merlot piece and had written, “Last year I had a customer singing the praises of Coppola's Merlot, telling me how smooth it was. I'd had it, and as far as it went–not very far in my estimation–he was right. I challenged him to a proposition, suggesting that he try the Provenance wine, and hinting that he would like it more, even though it probably wasn't as smooth. Long story short, he came back the next week and said that he and his wife were astounded to agree with me but wanted to know why they liked it better. The answer was depth of taste and complexity. Smooth can also equate to bland–which is what I thought about the over-rated Coppola Merlot”

    Needless to say, I'm going to recommend Episode #803 as a back-up to my story–because we've got to get our folks to understand this! Also liked your line, “Oak is make-up.”

  • MIchael C in MKE

    Will you please stop complaining about Sideways. I would expect that the posers whose purchasing decisions are influenced by characters in popular movies are not people who spend their time following your show. Anyways the character in the movie doesn't even say that Merlot is bad. He just refuses to drink it.

    QOTD: I drink it when it's being poured. I can't say I've had a Merlot thats brought any thunder.
    Bordeaux, St. Emilion, Merlots taste like aspirin.

  • jrodenbiker

    QOTD: My local store (shout out to Happy Harry's!) sells a $3.99 Merlot that's pretty good for being $3.99. Think it's labeled as Double Dog Dare, a Two-Buck Chuck kinda thing.

    Otherwise I don't think I've ever had the same Merlot twice. Not that I don't drink it, it's part of my red rotation. I just don't ever (well, very rarely) drink the same vineyard twice.

    Also, when did Gary start regularly filming in front of a studio audience? I stopped watching about a year ago when life got busy, so it must have been since then.

  • jrodenbiker

    I think I owned GV's shirt back in 2001. Had a yellow one like it too.

  • I just noticed that today, some lady laughing in the background every time GV talked about biting the tree and whatnot…i did laugh at GV commenting on Mott zooming in on the brown bag though 😛

  • JasonGonzales

    JoshL,

    Thanks! I like to mix things up.

    I usually guess what Gary is going to score a wine (in my head). So when gary started to write the scores on the bag, I decided I would do the same on a piece of paper.

    Always a pleasure JoshL,
    Jason

  • have you found a good fruit bomb for the lady friend yet?

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