Episode 29: Merlot Madness In this installment of 'A Guy, a Girl, and a Bottle' wine podcast, Joe visits San Francisco to attend a seminar on Merlot and an attempt to restore the good character ... upon the much maligned merlot. Chris Phelps and Stu Harrison of Swanson vineyards present their case on merlot and why this wine deserves more respect. Music "Taste It" by Casey Desmond...

My latest article is up over at Wine Sediments, In Defense of Merlot . Give it a read and get the scoop on why Miles from Sideways is actually a Merlot drinking hypocrite...

I don’t know why you’d spoil good old Sangiovese by adding Merlot to it, but as Merlot cannot stand ... the accommodating Sangiovese for the task. And then Merlot had the gall to steal the headline. Ungrateful wretch. I am joking of course, but I am not sure of the exact blend; assumedly it is Merlot ... . Interestingly, the some of the Merlot and Sangiovese are cane cut to partially raisin the fruit...

FishEye Merlot caught my eye at the supermarket yesterday when trying to find a good cheap wine to pair with my pasta and chicken dinner. Nice and fruity, I think the strongest aroma was plum. This wine was a good match to my dinner, and a good value for $5.89. I’d like to try their Cab one of these days. Also, be sure to check out the Fisheye Winery website . Lots of fun! Rating...

I really wasn’t sure what to make about this whole white Merlot thing. Seems like they are playing a bit of catch-up to the White Zin here in America. Nevertheless, I thought I’d give a fair shot here on Cheap Wine Reviews. This one came from southern France. I guess it was a little sweeter than most regular Merlots I’ve tried. Nothing spectacular other than the packaging. The bottle...

... picking over the wines yesterday, a cartoon label caught my eye: Big Daddy Vineyards Merlot. I picked ... . If you’re looking for a full bodied cheap red wine with a lot of character, give the Big Daddy Merlot...

I used the photo for the 2004 vintage here but I did notice that the label now has the inclusion of some raised print. Quite appropriate too because this wine deserves a promotion. Maybe even a corner office? It is much better than it’s predecessor. I do love a merlot/cabernet franc blend. My favourite wine is Cheval Blanc (although that is a cabernet franc/merlot blend) and this offers...

“I’m not drinkin’ any &%#*&$# merlot!” The movie that kick started pinot noir sales had the opposite effect on merlot sales. Although the Sideways slap was no news to wine geeks, who had long known that merlot was the worst value in the market. Merlot, once the darling of industrial wine world, was suddenly out. Like a congressman caught paging too many pages, one day merlot was hot and the next...

I received two samples: a non-vintage Chateau Julien Merlot and a Blackstone 2003 Merlot ... the wine down for. Wine “B” didn’t have this off aroma and followed a typical Merlot profile ... ” was marred by the off aroma noted before. When I learned that the Chateau Julien Merlot was wine “B ... . So here are my full notes from three days of tasting: Chateau Julien , Merlot, “Barrel Aged...

Everything is looking great, but there is much work to be done. Namely, the Merlot clusters need ... success in preventing this issue? Our quadralaterally trained Merlot suffers from this less namely...