Unfortunately, most of the casual American wine market --read tourist-type consumers-- were convinced to shun Merlot after the movie Sideways came out. However, for those that went with the flow to seem erudite regarding wines, they didn't realize that Merlot is both used for blending as well as a varietal all on it's own. In fact, it's one of the primary grapes in Bordeaux red. It is both a sibling of Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon, the former incorrectly being considered Merlot for years in Chile, and also a child of Cabernet Franc.

I picked up this wine after meeting Tim Myers of Newman Wine & Spirits during my last wine run. We talked for awhile, and he also said that this was one of their wines, so I ventured a bottle of it.

The funny thing is that the more I drink wine, the more I understand some of the terms that other people used to describe it. This is an evolution simply because I don't eat all things, but let's start with this one.

The first thing I noticed is the very dark, inky purple color, which pretty much should be standard of any of the red noble grape varietals. As soon as I tried a sip, I was floored with a very powerful cascade of dark berries, jams, a tad bit of semi-smooth tannins which were expressed as a whisp of good smoke/aroma that you would experience in a tobacco shop, and a finish of some delectable spice, namely nutmeg mixed with something like cinnamon.

This wine is a definite winner, and should be brought to the table when you are closing a deal.