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I am not drinking any Fing Merlot
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I use this wine key: Forge de Laguiole Ebony
I have used the following glass in this video: RIEDEL Performance Riesling
I have tasted the following wines in this Video:
2019 Golan Heights Winery Yarden Merlot, Galilee, Israel
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/golan+heights+yarden+merlot+galilee+israel/2019?referring_site=KSB
2019 Moulin du Cadet, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, France
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/moulin+du+cadet+st+emilion+grand+cru+bordeaux+france/2019?referring_site=KSB
2021 Duckhorn Vineyards Merlot, Napa Valley, USA
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/duck+horn+merlot+napa+valley+county+north+coast+california+usa/2021?referring_site=KSB
2019 Barone Ricasoli Castello di Brolio `Caselferro` Toscana IGT, Tuscany, Italy
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/barone+ricasoli+castello+di+brolio+casal+ferro+tuscany+igp+italy/2019?referring_site=KSB
2021 Kellerei-Cantina Andrian Gant Merlot Riserva Alto Aldige, Trentino-Alto Aldige, Italy
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/kellerei+cantina+andriana+giant+merlot+rsrv+alto+adige+trentino+sud+tyrol+italy/2021?referring_site=KSB
2012 Charles Smith K Vintners Northridge Vineyard Merlot, Wahluke Slope, USA
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/charles+smith+k+vintner+north+ridge+merlot+wahluke+slope+washington+usa/2012?referring_site=KSB
The 100 Point Scoring System (from www.robertparker.com):
96-100: An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase and consume.
90 – 95: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 – 89: A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 – 79: An average wine with little distinction except that it is soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 – 69: A below-average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 – 59: A wine deemed to be unacceptable.
Merlot – is it the worst grape variety in the world? If you listen to some wine experts you might think that. Merlot bashing was almost as popular as Chardonnay bashing when both grape varieties experienced great success in the early noughties.
Chardonnay is still going strong while Merlot suffered a unique decline.
I mean tastes change and grape varieties fall out of favor – that is not uncommon – but Merlot’s fortune turned when a movie was released exactly 20 years ago.
The movie was called Sideways and for the 20th anniversary if you want to check whether it is time to revisit Merlot.
I know, I have talked about Sideways a few times but I recently bought the book the movie is based on and realized that the probably most famous wine-related movie scene ever. Does not even appear in it. I mean the main character Miles talks a LOT about how great Pinot is in the book and he also makes it clear that he isn’t a big fan of Merlot.
But the famous line from the movie originally was “They’re not going to order Merlot. They’re way too hip for that. And if they do, I am splitting.” In the book. This might be one good explanation for why the film grossed more than 100 million USD worldwide, while I only bought the book recently to hold it into the camera.
Regardless, the story had a strong impact on the US wine market and caused a drastic decline in interest in Merlot, while boosting Pinots image.
32 Comments
Guys, this is not a political show. I am a guy sitting in my cellar, tasting wine. I do not taste and rate wines based on politics. Nor do I endorse a political party or movement by tasting a wine from a given country.
Wine is made for sharing and helps find agreement where there was none before. At least, that is what I believe. I travel to places and meet people who have very different political views. But I can sit with most of them over a glass of wine and find common ground, no matter where I am.
I did not select the wine that offends some viewers. I also did not know much about the story of Golan Heights before recording this video (excuse my ignorance).
For anyone who wants to learn more about the history of the region, please read the following entry from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_Heights
There are some great Merlot wines, but in the US there’s a lot of really bad cheap Merlot.
I adore Sansonnet and Soutard -Cadet. I've been buying them for years, so it did not surprise me that the Moulin showed well. K Vintners wines always punch above their weight.
Please taste more Canadian wines! Merlot does insanely well in the Okanagan!! Cheers 🎉
Only imbeciles reject merlot out of hand. Pour out your Petrus et al then. Tragic movie for wine appreciation. As for chardonnay, try a Macon Villages instead of a California Retsina. There I'm done.
Poor call with the Jewish wine.
Hilarious!
👍
I can see Merlot strong in Italy yet. Before moving to Italy, I hadn't tasted Alto Adige wines, and now it's one of my favorite regions in Italy (Friuli is another surprise too).
And about the summer in Italy… I prefer to escape to Brazil or Portugal than stay in Italy during July and August.
On holiday in southern Mexico in 2023 and we found some very good local merlot; and yet outside of Mexico, I’d never seen Mexican wine…now that I’m home, I’ve found one specialty stockist in Sydney, so it’s about. They’re low to mid-4 vivino for $100, which is good
Was Merlot an allegory for his ex-wife or something?
Difficult to find links to wines
The ‘Sideways Effect’ is one of those little a tragedies of literary education shortfalls meeting subtle wine knowledge requirements — with both in hand, the brilliance of this film can be unveiled.
TL;DR: “I’m not drinking any fucking Merlot” actually means “I cannot handle any proximity to that wine that so profoundly reminds me of my wife/abandonment/failures/heartbreak.”
I haven’t read through all the comments yet or watched the whole video to see if you mention this but while wine people love to point out the Cheval Blanc and Merlot connection, I’ve seldom seen people connect this to the literary intent of this symbol.
This is a film about a man who is heartbroken and trying to move on from being left by the wife he still adores. He’s escaping into wine for its inebriating comforts, and wine's the perfect place for that because he can hide his hurt-fuelled substance abuse behind the cultural capital accruing to esoteric wine connoisseuring, if that’s a word 😂 Remember he is also failing in the other areas of his life. Failing as an author. Failing as a provider (He steals money from his own mother, as a grown ass man). He lacks the courage to be honest with the women they encounter. He lacks the courage to be honest about what he is feeling and what he wants. And thus all seems to hinge on his heartbreak, his wife leaving being the ultimate sign to himself of the ways in which he has failed and now he is in a full blown midlife crisis.
Meanwhile Miles is having his depression and heartbreak rubbed in his face by his friend Jack (an equally intriguing character in his own midlife crisis) who is selfish and chronically unstilted but at least on the surface does have love, a fiance, wealth, etc. and yet he is flippant and takes these all for granted and wishes to be young again, his beauty fading. Miles has to watch him treat his fiance and marriage like disposables while playing house with this innocent woman that is good friends with the only woman since Miles’ wife that he has any feelings for. So how does this all relate to Merlot? Before going into the restaurant he goes on his famous rant. While in the restaurant he gets loaded and calls his wife and can’t focus on the woman right there, Maya, who he would like to be with if only he could move on from his divorce two years ago. Later he tells Maya about the 61 Cheval Blanc (a blend of Merlot and Cab Franc, another variety he shits on in the film) and how he was saving it for his and Victoria’s anniversary. And once that connection is established we can see that this is the Chekhovian gun on the mantle that will need to go off by the last act. The meaning has been loaded into the chamber. He does not hate Merlot, it is that Merlot reminds him of his wife.
Indeed once the plot unravels and Maya and Stephanie see these two pathetic men for who they are, Miles attends the wedding and sees Victoria is with someone else and pregnant and it appears like it’s finally clicked for him, they are never getting back together. He goes home, gets the 61 Cheval Blanc, and we see him drink it unceremoniously from a fast food cup with a burger. It’s a genius rounding of the corner, a satisfying symbol of his moving on. And we then get to see him go after Maya. Whether they get together or not is less important than the fact that he has finally picked himself up, dusted himself off, and is ready to live again.
As a lover of literature and a sommelier and an author myself, this is so beautifully done. The subtlety is immense. The old rule, show don’t tell, is on perfect display. And the choice of Merlot is perfect. Pinot is elusive and difficult. Merlot is like a bear hug. Merlot is idyllic and sanguine and even pollyannaish at times, its flavours so obviously delicious, it is a wine a child could love, and indeed it is often the first red wine people fall in love with. It was true for me (Chateau le Puy was the first red wine I truly adored). Its flavours are almost never challenging, just varying degrees of euphoric. It’s pop music. Delicious big dancy pop music. And his marriage was like that. He was happy. Things were simple. Miles’ critiques of the variety are themselves descriptions of his life: it is a vine that is happy anywhere, gives up its fruit easily, flourishes. When it all came crashing down, Pinot Noir with its mercurial flavours and infamous potential for upset and the difficulty and care and attention it requires in the vineyard, these are all representative of his new state of mind. But like Pinot, he knows that it is capable of greatness. But it needs to be sought out, needs devotion, needs tender care. He is looking for someone that will care for him this way, to bring the best fruit out of him, to redeem him despite his difficult nature. I don’t think the author could have chosen two better California-grown varieties to encrypt the themes of this film.
It is sad to think that the world of every day wine drinkers turned its back on Merlot just because they didn’t want to look dumb or uncultured. Wine is so weeeird this way, people are so nervous they’re ‘doing it wrong’, people are rarely nervous about drinking stout instead of pale or scotch instead of cognac. Ironically, the only uncultured thing going on here is not understanding the symbolism: Miles loved Merlot deeply but can’t bring himself to drink it when its very flavour was charged with betrayal and abandonment and longing. In his diatribes against Merlot we see the deeply Freudian reaction-formation of his own self-deception, abandoning the variety the same way someone yells “go then! get! get out of here! I never wanted you to stay” to the person leaving them when they desperately want them to stay. Only a Great Variety like Merlot could make such an impact on a person’s medulla-oblongata-to-prefrontal-cortex meaning-cum-organoleptics super-highway.
Having now typed this all out with my thumbs, I wonder if I should spruce it up and actually publish it somewhere because i feel like I go on this tiring tirade every time people are decrying the Sideways Effect. I feel like a real Miles myself, info-dumping on everyone the close reading of this truly exceptional screenplay. Please spread the word. The Merlot / Cheval Blanc device is not just an oversight or an inside joke or whatever, it is literary irony and symbolism at its best. Why would we punish Merlot for that? I would go so far as to guess the author chose Cheval Blanc because it is famously so high in Cab Franc (I think the 61 was like half and half) because Victoria is his Merlot and he is Cab Franc — spicy, edgy, dusky — benefitting immensely from the generosity and warmth of Merlot’s round, red, edenic fruit. Miles needed her and now he has to go it alone, like Pinot Noir.
I like your content but maybe Merlot from the illegally occupied Golan Heights could have been avoided. Im sure there are other options, even in Israel, that dont explicity rely on stolen land and water.
I cart stand Malbec or Shiraz – Is it just me? IMO Merlot is a wonderful grape variety after all its all down to your personal taste.
Thanks for the video. I have always enjoyed Merlot and am glad you found some good versions of it. I do have a question: how reliable is the alcohol content in a wine? What is the actual variance from what is stated to what is actually in the wine?
When I hear people disparaging Merlot or Chardonnay, I think of Chablis and Pomerol, and my middle finger goes up in joy.
There is no evidence he doesn't know the Cheval Blanc's cepage, I'm certain the character does. This is not the kind of Merlot or Cab Franc he is criticising, it is the over extracted American version. You can be certain he would love Petrus or Le Pin. The filmmakers used Cheval Blanc because Latour refused use of their wine (in the book it is 82 Latour).
May I suggest you do something on Lebanon's wines as recompense for promoting a wine most of us would boycott. The wines of Ksara, Musar and many others are worthy of your attention. Israel bombed the Beqaa relentlessly and destroyed countless vines and damaged almost all wineries. Batroun vineyards were thankfully not bombed and they could also be included. We can't do anything about Israel's murderous campaign but we can support the winemakers of Lebanon by buying their excellent wines.
How drunk are you or just real Konstantin.
Immediately after watching this, I searched and successfully acquired the same 98 pt Merlot – 2012 K Vintners Merlot – Northridge. I'm so excited to try it.
If you want to drink a lot of red wine or your beginer ,Merlot is best option . Not bad hangover for this type of wine.
I mean, let's not forget Chianti. (Silence of the Lambs, anyone?)
Very wonderful tasting! Exciting. I saw Sideways. I guess I didn’t realize it “canceled” merlot for some people. But…I still lived your tasting. Keep up the great work, Konstantin!
I usually don't comment on videos too much, but was so happy to see this one on what is my favorite varietal! While I'd tried wine in my 20s, I didn't really start drinking it until after my first home purchase at 30 where I got a few bottles as housewarming gifts. I kept to the very light/sweet wines mostly at first (white zinfandel, anyone? 😛😄), but one night I went out for dinner with some folks and the person ordering picked the wine… which happened to be a Kendall Jackson merlot (California for those who don't know). At that point I fell in love with the varietal and it got me into the more bold red wines that now comprise most of my collection.
I actually had the Duckhorn Vineyards merlot a few weekends ago while out to dinner, and it is a nice merlot, but after some searching I landed on a place known as Pride Mountain Vineyards, which reside actually straddling both the Sonoma and Napa counties here in California. I'd been referred to them specifically for one known for making good merlots, and when I finally visited, well… I wasn't disappointed! I've been there for tastings several times now, and on all of them I've always heard someone in the group I was in state "I usually don't like merlots… but I like yours." One of the tastings actually allowed me to try a 2005 bottle, and it was amazing, and I bought it (just $84, a wonderful price) and have been saving it for this year to enjoy it when it's 20 years old! 🙂 So once again, thank you for covering this varietal and hopefully getting people excited about merlot again!
Sideways is a modern classic. Hilarious. As to Merlot, I would be happy to drink more of it, but here in Australia we are cursed with dodgy clones or high prices for “good” wines – whether local or imported. And the fact that it has fallen out of fashion. What place does fashion have in the wine world???
Everyone likes Merlot, but only the true taster capable of appreciating all its infinite nuances like Pinot.
It took me a number of years before I got the Sideways inside joke……Miles hates merlot, but drinks the 61 Cheval Blanc(mostly merlot) 😏
Merlot ist als Einzelrebsorte fast so schlimm wie Primitivo.
I really like Merlot. It and Malbec were the first red wines I started drinking so they will always have a special place in my heart. Markham is my all time favorite, but I really like Ferrari Carano as well.
Fantastic to see you back! Thank you for your dedication and we have to admit….we’re not Merlot lovers, however thanks to your podcast, we’re tempted to persevere! Lots of love and take care xxx
Pour out that Petrus!