For many, the end of daylight savings is cause for upset. The lost daylight hours. The dark evening commute surrounded by unnamed head and tail lights. Colder weather. Shorter days. Hibernation mode. The stress of the impending holidays. The list goes on…
But not for us! It’s cause for celebration!
Why might you ask?
It’s almost international Merlot Day!
There is no better time of the year to dive deep into a bottle (or two) of Merlot than now. To seize the season of reflection and introspection as another year winds down with a bottle of a oft-misunderstood classic, now being produced in smaller, better, rare form. The soft velvety tannins and structured fruit backed by a beautiful terroir (even in exceptional stateside expressions) makes us want to wrap up in our favorite robe after a hot shower and settle in with a good book, movie, or show and a welcome glass of one of France’s finest grapes.
Merlot was never bad, well, let’s say it was over-produced undoubtedly – and thus quality was variable – but any wine that needs to meet market demands at prices for everyone will lose some of its je ne sais quoi at a certain volume and price point.
***All self awareness intact here – we are somewhat removed from the next comment due to our business model***
What store bought wine is going to knock your socks off for $6-10?
None (barring the very first round of $2 Chuck’s – man, that was a hell of a deal).
Yes, Merlot suffered, unjustifiably, due to Sideways – Miles wasn’t talking about the wine y’all, it was about his ex, feel like we’ll spend another 14 years shouting this to deaf ears, so, whatever – but, admittedly, it needed to happen. Merlot was going to break one way or another, all consumers needed was an excuse.
That’s really all we ever need.
As an example, new iPhone out? Well it has a better camera. Honestly, you could spend just as much and get an awesome camera that’ll last for years on years, but it is the excuse to buy the new phone. Your current one still makes/takes calls, connects to the internet, is compatible with all your bluetooth devices, can run all the currents apps and games, has the same level of security (which is questionable to begin with – but that’s another conversation for another forum), still has a high def screen, but the camera is old now! Just need an excuse, that’s all.
Well, here we are. Merlot is rarely seen. And when it is, you better believe they’ve done their best to produce the best damn bottle of Merlot you’ve tasted, because, quite frankly, they need to.
While there are so many big bold red options that’ll satisfy the craving for red wine in the cooler months, nothing quite strikes the nostalgic, comforting level quite like velvety Merlot.
While we’d recommend our QPR conscious Lot 903 Merlot (for all the obvious reasons), here are a few other Merlots you might want to try to warm up and unwind with this season:
- Château St. Michelle
- Delectus Merlot
- Château Fongrave
- Duckhorn
- Stags’ Leap (not to be confused with the infamous Stag’s Leap – it’s an apostrophe thing…)
- Château Bellegrave
- Well…any Pomerol actually
- Shafer
- Coppola’s Blue Label
- Pride Mountain
This is by no means an inclusive list, there are plenty of obscure Right Bank bottles of various vintages we’d love to enjoy for the short days and long nights, but that’ll be another list for the future.
Remember, this coming Thursday the 7th is International Merlot Day, so go ahead and celebrate, it’s ok, Miles has to be over his ex by now, it’s been 14 or so years – or so we’d hope, he was a volatile one, that Miles…