2008 Miner Family Estate Stagecoach Merlot

Admittedly, Merlot is not one of my favorite varietals (“Sideways Effect” or just bad wine?).  But, I haven’t completely snubbed the grape.  I am always willing to give it a chance, and every now and then I find one that really surprises me, like the 2008 Wild Horse Unbridled, and the 2008 Benziger Sonoma County.  The '08 California Merlots must really be hitting the mark for me, as we recently had another one that was quite enjoyable ~ 2008 Miner Family Estate Stagecoach Merlot.

We discovered this wine visiting the Miner Family tasting room on our 2012 trip to Napa Valley.  It is very rare that I taste a Merlot that gets a smiley face rating, which means…it’s coming home, and this one did.  The 2008 Stagecoach Merlot is a blend of 79% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon.  The nose has classic characteristics of berries, vanilla, and a little smokiness.  Dark, tart fruits came forward on the palate, with plenty of tannins.  This full-bodied wine did well on its own, but really shined paired with our dinner of meatloaf, mixed green salad, and mashed parsnips. 

A great fall wine, and a Merlot worth giving a try!  

This wine retails for about $40.  It can be purchased directly from the winery, and is also available in limited quantities at select Specs stores.  You can also search availability at restaurants and retailers in your area here.  

Take a chance on Benziger's <$20 Merlot

We were amazed to hear the same line over and over on our recent California wine trip:

"Despite what you may have heard from that movie (Sideways), Merlot can be pretty good!"

It's amazing that a movie released in 2004 is still giving wineries and consumers a complex about Merlot. Of course, Sideways was a pretty good movie with an inordinate influence on California wine drinkers. There's also been plenty of crappy Merlot on the market that would justifiably sway people against the varietal.

We're not typically huge Merlot fans, but occasionally we'll come across some that we believe even Miles would enjoy. Once in a blue moon that really good Merlot costs less than $20.

That was the case with a bottle of 2008 Benziger Sonoma County Merlot. We've talked about this terrific winery in the past when we reviewed their Signaterra Pinot Noir and in a post about how we're all connected in six degrees of wine.

We enjoyed the Merlot with a hearty beef stew and were surprised at how good this wine tasted with and without food. It was very fruit forward with bright red fruit tastes, a little spice, and supple tannins on the finish. 

This wine typically sells for just $13.99, though finding it can be a little difficult. We picked up a bottle a few months back at one of our local wine shops, but they're now out. Total Wine and Specs both have it listed for sale on their websites and they can ship to most places.

A Merlot Even Miles May Enjoy

If you have seen the 2004 movie, Sideways, you may recall the famous line by Miles, “If anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving… I am NOT drinking any f**king merlot!” The movie and the quote gained much popularity and even triggered what was called, “The Sideways Effect”.  Around the same time as Sideways hit the market, merlot sales declined. Some say the movie was the primary impact, and we even saw wineries in Napa Valley campaigning to overcome it.  Others say it was merely a matter of coincidence. Most likely, the real reason for the decline was that the market simply became saturated with inexpensive merlots of so-so quality. 

It was about this same time that we started to really discover wine, and the famous quote pretty much summed up my feeling for merlot.  As a big fan of the movie, was I living “The Sideways Effect”? Maybe. But, now that I have opened my mind a little and given merlot a chance, I’ve determined my opinions were most likely due to tasting wines of dubious quality. 

While still not a major fan, every now and then I come across a merlot that really surprises me.  One recent discovery is from a winery I never would have expected ~ Wild Horse in Paso Robles. Wild Horse is known for their outstanding collection of pinot noir.  And, speaking of Sideways, it is quite ironic that we would discover a great merlot at a place known for pinot. 

During our visit to the tasting room in 2011, we were introduced to the 2008 Unbridled Merlot. Having shared our thoughts on the varietal, it took some convincing from our host, Zach to give it a taste.  We were so glad he did, and surprised him when we said we were taking a bottle with us!

This medium-bodied wine has scents of earthiness with hints of spice, flavors of dark cherry and soft tannins.  It is a great food wine.  We shared the bottle with my mom, appropriately pairing it with “mom’s lasagna”.  It would also go very well with steak and stinky cheese.  It retails for $35, and is available for purchase online through the winery direct.  I can’t believe I am saying this about a merlot, but I wish we had another bottle!

Check this out:

While reading up on “The Sideways Effect”, I came across this fun, short video on the history of merlot from Gundlach Bundschu (oldest family owned winery in California) ~ winner 2012 Wine Spectator Video Contest. Note how they quietly call out Sideways! 

“Drink Yourself Blind” and Discover New Wine

One of my favorite ways to discover new wines is with unique tasting experiences.  It’s a fun way to share wine with friends and try something you may not otherwise.  This week, co-workers were in town and our friends at Bacchus Wine Market & Tasting Room set up a very fun tasting experience for us, “Drink Yourself Blind”. 

For the tasting, we were served 8 mystery wines ~ 4 white, 4 red.  We were provided a list of possible wines.  Of course, they didn’t make it easy, as each list had an extra wine that was not part of the tasting.  We were also provided grape descriptions to help us along.  Here’s the list of our potential wines with actual selections marked with (x):

WHITE:

(x) Le Capitaine Vouvray Chenin Blanc, France

(x) Cavallotto Chardonnay, Italy

(x) J. Rickards Sauvignon Blanc, California

(x) Trefethen Riesling, California

Lagar de Cervera Albarino, Spain

RED:

(x) Medlock Ames Merlot, California

(x) White Hawk Syrah, California

(x) In Situ Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

J. Rickards Zinfandel, California

(x) Aster Ribera del Duero Tempranillo, Spain

The wines were served one at a time, starting with the whites.  After every taste, we each made a guess and then took the most common answer as our ‘team pick’.  After tasting all the whites, I learned, well… I really suck at this ~ it was hard!  I only got 2 correct.  Our collective team pick scored the same, and we gave mad props to our co-worker who successfully picked three.  I was confident I’d do better with the reds.  Not so much.  I didn’t get any correct (ouch!), and I once again matched our team score.  The best among our group was a total of 4 correct picks. 

I have convinced myself I would do better if the wines were tasted all together and I could compare side by side.  Then again, maybe I just need the practice, and should take it as a sign to share more wine!

Bacchus is holding the "Drink Yourself Blind" event on Friday, Oct 12, 4-8:30pm and Saturday, Oct 13, 2-8:30pm.  Tickets are only $20. If you are in San Diego during this time, I highly recommend it ~ tons of fun!

Sharing a fun wine tasting experience with co-workers at Bacchus Wine Market, downtown San Diego

How We're All Connected in 6 Degrees of Wine

Last Friday night, Sally and I enjoyed a bottle of 2006 Benzinger Stone Farm Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon while dining at our favorite local restaurant, Terra American Bistro. The wine and the meal were both fantastic, but the experience also reminded us how sharing wine creates so many fun and interesting connections. We did the calculations and realized that the Benzinger we were enjoying that night could be traced back to our love of wine in just six degrees of separation.

And no, Kevin Bacon is not involved.

Sally drinking Benzinger at Terra#1: Benziger

Benziger is a certified organic winery in the Sonoma wine region. They make a lot of fantastic wine, including the Cabernet Sauvignon we had at Terra. The 2006 Stone Farm Vineyards version had dark cherry and blackberry flavors with incredible tannins that started with the first taste and lasted all the way down. It was a wonderful match with Sally's bistro burger and my chipotle skirt steak. The only problem is we had purchased only one bottle, so this was a one and done experience. Boo.

#2: Lenore

My friend Lenore had recommended we try Benzinger when we were planning one of our wine adventures a few years ago. Friends are always a great source of ideas for trying new wines, and Lenore's suggestion didn't disappoint. Over the years, we've discovered many terrific new wines this way.  

A tasty glass of Matanzas Creek Merlot#3: Matanzas Creek Winery

Sally and I recently enjoyed a bottle of 2006 Matanzas Creek Merlot. How did we discover this wine? Lenore shared a bottle with me. Proving that shared bottles are the best bottles, this one was tremendous. We normally try to pair nice wine with a nicer meal, but this time we were in the mood for comfort food and opened it up with plain ol' spaghetti. The Merlot made the spaghetti seem gourmet and we continued to savor the wine long after the meal was finished. It had brighter fruit flavors than a typical Merlot, but was soft and delicate with wonderful tannins on the finish.

Jane Messick pouring wine at Mazzocco#4 Mazzocco Winery

Why did Lenore give us a bottle of wine from Matanzas Creek Winery? Besides being a very nice person, she remembered us talking about a winery I liked in Sonoma. Mazzocco and Mantanzas sound a lot a like, so it was a happy accident that Sally and I discovered a new winery in the process. We had visited Mazzocco in 2007 with our friend Heather and had a great time. Side note - we discovered Mazzocco thanks to our real estate agent, Pat Donovon, who gave us a bottle as a housewarming gift.

Jeff starting to get a little blurry at Hess#5 Artezin Wines

While tasting wine at Mazzocco, we met Jane Messick, who sells grapes used to make Artezin Zinfandel. We love Artezin!

#6 The Hess Collection

Artezin is made by Hess, one of our favorite wineries. Hess is the first wine that we both remember getting us excited about wine. And, it's probably our most shared.