Well, well, well, its “National Merlot Month” and I’m getting behind it big time. I know there is a national month for just about anything, including almost all the grape varietals. I feel a need to focus on Merlot this month, because a lot of folks out there are still influenced by that silly Hollywood movie Sideways. I loved that movie myself and have watched it a few times since its release. However, I was in no way going to take Miles dissing of Merlot seriously. Sad to say, many people did, and Merlot sales dropped dramatically. Of course there are other reasons why Merlot sales started to slide.
In the late seventies and early eighties of the twentieth century, Merlot was a hot item. Everyone drank Merlot. As a
In my humble opinion, Merlot does its magic when it comes from the right bank of Bordeaux (Pomerol, Fronsac, St-Emilion), Washington State, Napa Valley and parts of Italy. For the month of October, I plan on shooting a number of episodes on my YouTube channel featuring Merlot and writing a few articles about its virtues both here and on my P.I. blog with the hashtag #merlotme. Follow me on this one and if you are not a big Merlot fan, I hope I can change your mind.
I was tasting wine with one of my sales reps last week and he presented me with a few whites. I gave him a hard time about the timing, with the weather getting cooler. I jokingly accused his company of pushing whites because they overbought and now they are trying to clear their inventory. The sales rep made a very good point that I think is worthy of sharing. He disagreed with me on the warehouse clearing statement. He is on a mission to get folks to drink whites year-round. Why do people slow down on white consumption in the Fall and Winter? They don’t give up on beer just because it is colder outside, so why give up on whites? I gave that some serious thought and he is right. As a wine drinker, I myself enjoy having a glass of white wine at any time of the year. My wife loves white wine any time of the year herself. I will join my colleague in his effort to make white wine a choice no matter what time of the year.
On a completely different note, my wife Susie and I just celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. I have never been happier in my life! She is an amazing person and very supportive of my career. We are both so glad that we met and things worked out the way they have. I am looking forward to many more years of sharing our lives together and traveling the world. Life is good and it has a lot to do with my lovely little Brit.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
