You never forget your first love...and mine was Merlot. Up to that
sip of Chilean juice all my encounters with red wine brought mouthfuls
of tannic unhappiness. I had no idea red wine could taste so smooth and
juicy and, yes, fruity. I remember seeking it out and buying versions
from Mill Creek, Lambert Bridge and Chateau Souverain on my first trip
to Sonoma. And then, overexposure hit, causing many wineries to plant
Merlot where they shouldn't – just to make a quick buck – and the lack
of quality made many wine lovers, like me, desert the variety and move
on to other grapes. It doesn't take many mediocre versions to turn
people off, especially when you're paying good money for the pleasure.
This decline happened long before Sideways. The movie just brought the
problem to a national audience. Miles' cry "I'm not drinking any
f**king Merlot!", while funny, was all too true for many of us everyday
drinkers. This once luscious grape was ruined by rampant
commercialization, which was sad for drinkers, but had to be horrifying
to the wineries who considered this a flagship variety. Lucky for us
the ones in it for the long haul, held on and concentrated their
efforts into making wines that would turn around Merlot's maligned
reputation. Or so I've heard.
I got the opportunity to see whether they succeeded at Learn About Wines "Revenge of The Merlot" tasting. While clearly devised by the wineries participating to get people talking about and tasting merlot again, it was interesting to actually hear first hand the effects, if any, they had experienced since Sideways supposedly put the nail in Merlot's coffin.
It happens every year about this time, in magazines and newspapers,
online: an outpouring of effervescent enthusiasm for holiday sparkling
wine bargains. "The best of West Coast bubbly has rarely been better,"
trumpets San Francisco Chronicle Magazine. The online wine merchant www.novusvinum.com features the "Top 20 American Sparkling Wines," from a modest $19 for Francis Coppola 2008 Sofia Blanc de Blancs to a staggering $100 for Schramsberg 2002 J. Schram. Words like "festive" and "elegant" promise a transcendental experience.
I love old timey things. I even love the term old timey. Whenever I
hear it, everything turns into sepia tone and rag time music starts
playing. Then my iPhone rings and I realize I need to update my blog
and twitter. I'm happy I wasn't born in the 30's but I enjoy many
things about it. Mainly the influx of bars that seem to embrace that
old timey feel. Did Mad Men have something to do with this? Probably.
I'll be the first to admit prior to watching Don Draper I never had an
Old Fashioned. I now love Old Fashioneds. I even make a really good Old
Fashioned. 
Food and wine pairing. Everyone tries to do it well. Most of the time, you go by the old standards - steak with Cabernet, white wine with fish - with the best of intentions just hoping that they don't clash, but praying you hit it just right. You're hoping, praying you get the perfect mouthful, where the wine and food meld together into something unexpected, complementing and enhancing one another into a perfect delicious union. When that happens, and it's not often enough, it's truly magical. 
It's only a few days until Cinco de Mayo. Woo-hoo!