I really thought I was going to be able to get through all of the Argentina pictures and stories this week, but alas, my internet was down at home this morning when I tried to upload the images I wanted to share!  Oh well…  Guess you’ll just have to wait until Monday.  In the meantime, let me share with you a funny little wine we tried this week, Zin Your Face.  As the name implies, this is a Zinfandel from Central Valley California.  The bottle had big bold letters reading, “Spicy, Jammy, Yummy.”  Sounded like a challenge to me to we picked up a bottle.  It cost $12.99 but we were at a small package store near our house that has a limited selection and higher prices than most other stores in the area, but it is literally within crawling distance from our house so we often just bite the bullet and stop here instead of driving further for a better deal.  I’d imagine you could find this bottle for closer to $10 if you looked around…  Anyway, so we tried it, and I feel it lived up to the bottle verbiage!  Huge cherry and raspberry flavors with that extra little spike of alcohol on the palate that Zins are known for.  Nice spice on the nose as well.  Pair it with bolder foods/cheeses so you don’t overpower what you’re eating with the strong flavors of the wine.  And as always, if you try it please let me know what you think!  Ok, off to focus on the new blizzard we’re having today, yeah!  Have a great weekend!!

(photo credit Zin Your Face)

Ugh, is it really only Thursday?  How is it possible that this week already feels so much longer if I haven’t even had to work my first full Friday since May?  Ok, I’ll shut up about that before people start to hate me…  Anyway, next up in our night of tasting fun – another Merlot from California!  What, it’s a big state and it’s easy to find California Merlots!  I’m not being lazy, I’m just trying to make it easier for you to find the wines I’m blogging about!  So here we go…

The Wine:  181 Merlot, 2007

The Region: Lodi, California

The Results: Great, solid Merlot.  This is a perfect variteal wine, the plush tannins you like with the black cherry flavor you love.  A great spice on the finish, this is the sort of bottle you get when you want what you expect from a classic Merlot.  The winery calls this a “Bordeaux style” Merlot as the soil makeup in the vineyard that produces this wine is similar to that of the right bank of Bordeaux.  I would say they are spot on.  Pair this wine with any bold dish like grilled meats or hearty sauces and stews.  And for $10.99 a bottle, you’ve got to love the price!  So sad, I can’t believe that tomorrow I’ll wrap up our little Merlot adventure!  Well, at least I have a fantastic wedding to attend this weekend at the Boston Public Library with (almost) all of my old college roommates!  Always good to have something fabulous to look forward to  :)  On that note, please start brainstorming and let me know what you think I should focus on next at MoreThanMerlot!  I’d love to take on another little project like “Six Ways to Sideways – The Merlot Project” (HA!  Said it again!)  Your feedback would be much appreciated!  Hasta manana…

(photo credit: 337wine.com)

Ok, down to business!  So this past weekend, as you probably know since I’ve talked about it incessantly, my lovely sister and brother in law came to town for my cousin’s wedding.  Since my parents were at the rehearsal dinner Friday night, I kidnapped my sister and BIL for a little wine tasting action.  To finish off “Six Ways to Sideways – The Merlot Project,” I selected three different bottles of Merlot from around the world.  I looked up some notes online to clue me in to the strength of each wine so that I could order them from softest to most potent, as I feel this is important when tasting multiple wines in a row.  Luckily, my ordering was right on!  So here we go with the first selection:

The Wine:  ”Encore” Merlot by Christian Moueix, 2005.

The Region:  Bordeaux, right bank (Right bank = mostly Merlot, left bank = mostly Cab)

The Results:  This bottle ran us a bit more than usual at $13.99, but it  it was important to me that we incorporated 100% varietal wines from different areas so we could compare and contrast.  And let me tell you, this wine was well worth it!  The few extra years of aging definitely show in the soft fruit and super smooth texture of this wine.   Bright cherry and subtile vanilla with soft tannins, a perfect sipping wine for a summer evening on the terrace.  The wine did not pack too much of a punch overall, so I would not pair it with stronger dishes like a normal Merlot.  This would be great for a mild brie cheese plate, a salad course, or with simple chicken or pork dishes.  I guess I would really pair this wine more as a light Pinot Noir than a Merlot.  So if you’re a big Pinot person looking for something different, you should check this wine out for sure!  How did this rank against the other wines of the evening?  Sorry, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow  :)

PS – You will also have to wait until tomorrow for some pictures, as I tried uploading this morning and the program timed out  :(  My sister looked beautiful, I swear!

“I’m not drinking Merlot!  If anyone’s drinking Merlot, I’m leaving!”

Ah, the famous line from “Sideways.”  Great movie.  I do get a little peeved by this line, however.  I mean, Merlot is a Noble Grape.  It is one of the most well-known grapes for a reason – it produces excellent wine.  Now, the mission of MoreThanMerlot.com is to help people understand that there are many different types of wine out there – trying lesser known varietals will open you palate to a variety of flavors and open your wallet to big savings.  However, you cannot rule out the big boys completely!  I recently realized that in my quest to share with you the Torrontés and Carménères of the world I had never actually reviewed a Merlot wine.  I gasped, I cried, I nibbled nervously at my nails and then immediately made my way to the local wine shop.  Thus began my newest undertaking- “Six Ways to Sideways – The Merlot Project.”  6 Merlot reviews in a row, so take THAT!  And I must say, my first bit of research left me more than satisfifed…

The Wine – Ecco Domani Merlot, 2007

The Region – Trentino, Italy

The Results – Wow, I forgot how much I really like Merlot!  This Italian Merlot (ok, it’s technically only 97% Merlot, but that’s good enough for government work!) is soft with a black cherry flavor and mild spice.   The tasting notes claim a strong blackberry on the nose, I guess they’re close but I didn’t pick up on it until I read the notes and smelled it again.  The cherry is what definitely stands out to me, and the balanced acidity made it very easy and pleasant to drink.  The wine was $10.99 but I picked it up with two other Merlots as part of a 3-$30 deal.  I would definitely buy this wine again, great with Italian food, grilled meats, strong cheeses, or just your typical Tuesday afternoon!  Eer, I mean evening…

Our next stop will be to Australia.  Will Australian Merlot hold up?  Will it fall flat to its old world counterparts?  Will I remember to take tasting notes while watching Jersey Shore?  Ha, Jersey Shore starts at 10:00pm, it will be long gone by then…

Until the next round, Salute!

(photo credits eccodomani.com & foxsearchlight.com)

You know something?  I was about to reference this wine in a previous post and when I did a quick search on my OWN site for “merlot” I realized that  MoreThanMerlot.com has never reviewed a 100% merlot wine.  NEVER.  How is this even possible?  Especially when I can think of half a dozen fabulous merlots right off the top of my head that I would recommend?  Well, I’ll tell you this :  The next 6 bottles of wine I purchase will be 100% down-right fantastic merlots.  I understand there is a wedding diet and a wedding budget to worry about, but this is research here!  So, since I’m bound to a desk for another half hour or so and physically/morally not able to actually TRY a new merlot at this moment in time, I am going to first share with you an old merlot stand-by of mine:  Blackstone Merlot.  Blackstone is great, it’s easy to find, a good price range to drink at home or bring to a friend’s house for a casual dinner party, and it is a generally consistent and pleasing wine.  I like Blackstone Merlot because it is fruity and smooth – not jammy like merlot can sometimes get.  It is a strong, true to varietal wine with great hints of cherry and soft spice.  Now, I must admit, while visiting the Blackstone site to find a picture of the bottle I discovered that this example is in fact NOT a 100% varietal wine but consists of 80% Merlot, 10% Syrah, 3% Cab Sauv and 1% Zin (I realize the percentages are a tad off but I took this directly from their site…).  That being said, it’s probably why I like this Merlot so much, I just love blended wines!  Blends can remove the negatives from one varietal by adding the positives of another!  Hello, Bordeaux for example?  Why do we think it is the most famous wine region in all the world?  But I digress…  SO, world, I give you the first official review of a (kinda-sorta) true Merlot wine on this site.  But I also give you so much more, the promise of more to come!  As I get my shopping list together, let me know if there are any 100% Merlots that you’ve had your eye on or that you think I must try!  I hope Monique has her game face on today, I am coming to play…

(photo credit: blackstonewinery.com)