Yes, I am drinking a G#$% D%^ Merlot !

I know that drinking California Merlot has fallen out of favor ever since the movie " Sideways" played in theaters across the country. This bad press, some of it deserved has created a slump in the Merlot market that has resulted in a lot of formerly high-priced fruit winding up either not selling or getting sold for really reduced prices to negociants. These bargain wines have been shoing up here and there....unfamiliar brands but familiar high profile appelations. The Bridgeway 2006 Napa Valley Merlot really tastes like one of the good Merlots that made the varietal popular in the '80's. I remember drinking some great Merlot back in the day-somehwere about 10 years ago the market got flooded with really crappy, vegetal Merlot and I, for one got rather disenchanted with the grape. The release of "Sideways" didn't help the image of the once all-popular grape and Pinot, Zin and Caberlet demand increased, virtually crushing( ironically , much of the Merlot remained uncrushed ..) the Merlot demand. This Red-headed stepchild is now the bargain wine and the Bridgeway really comes through with the richness and complexity of an expensive wine....kind of amazing as it is only $ 6.99 at Trader Joes. Try a bottle......maybe you'll start enjoying G** D*** Merlot again. 8 swiggs.

For special occasions only !

This might be one of my favorite wines, although I can count on one hand how many bottles I have opened. Randy Dunn on Howell mtn. in Napa has been making this wine for about 20 years. This was the cult cabernet before there were cult cabernets and Dunn really hasn't raised his prices in all those years. The Napa bottling is not as tannic and sought after as the Howell mtn. but it is superbe and can compare to the very pinnacle of Napa reds. 9.5 swiggs , this 2003 might not have been stored as well as it could but it was still excellent. $ 64.95 at U-save liquors in Santa Cruz.

Barossa for a deal

The Thorne Clarke 'Shotfire' Barossa shiraz is only $ 12.95 and widely available. I would rank it with other wines from this great winegrowing region of Australia costing twice as much. The richness and complexity of the Shotfire really make it a special treat, but at the low price it doesn't have to be something limited to special occasions. I think it would be hard to find a wine from Europe or the USA that has this much flavor and quality at this price. 9 swiggs.

Paso Robles cab.

Down south in Paso Robles there's an increasing amount of good wines being made. This one is not one I had tried so when I got it as a gift I was pretty happy. I'm not sure the source of this wine locally but I'm sure it can be gotten through the winery. This 2006 cabernet is really nice, medium bodied and good enough to enjoy on the weekend. I'll give it 7 1/2 swiggs , pretty good for the region.

Weekend wine experiment

Whenever I see an '04 cabernet, I usually pick it up. I know the wine writers don't really go nuts about '04 but I have found it to be my favorite vintage of the decade for California reds so far. The High Valley is one I haven't had. It turns out that it is a pleasant wine but it really does not compare to many wines in the same price bracket that I have lucked into since I have started this blog. At $ 24.95 , I'm really looking for a big wine with super good flavors all around. This wine was good but maybe a little light and a taste astringent, almost tart. Since it was on closeout for $ 18.95 I figured that I give it a try. I'll give it 6 1/2 swiggs.....not bad , but I would want more for $ 24.95.

Zin dosen't get any better than this.

Look for this wine if you are a Zin fanatic.The Gia Domella 2005 Russian River Zin- It has it all.....richness, complexity and depth. There's a place where all great California Zins all converge. This place is the pinnicle of what intense expression lies in this wonderful grape and it is somewhere special in the world of good wine. The grapes are from the Passalaqua family, a line of folks that started growing grapes beore prohibition. I am not sure what this wine costs but I'll bet that this limited production ( 356 cases only! ) isn't cheap. I'll give it 9 1/2 swiggs, about the top for a Zin. It's Russian river fruit-same general location as the Geyserville and Lytton springs grapes that Ridge masterfully crafts into some of the great wines of the world.

Sometimes the critics are right.

I have walked past the Layer Cake wines thinking that they were probably generic supermarket-style characterless and boring. Lat week I read that the critics were lauding this particular bottle so I became interested....not interested enough to pay the $ 15.95 , though. As luck would have it, a friend dropped by a couple bottles as a gift and upon drinking it, my wife and I were inpressed. I'll give this 2009 Shiraz 8 swiggs and reccmend it highly. It is available at Trader Joes among other places.