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by Fred McMillin
for September 21, 2000
A Merlot to Love
Prologue
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A picnic at today's winning winery. Your author conducted the tastings on the buses to the winery. |
"Recommend a good Merlot that won't bust my budget."
...WineDay viewer "Merlot Mac"
Dear Merlot Mac,
A lot of Merlots under $20 have not been good enough to merit a RECOMMENDED rating, but here are those that made the cut. The best one is listed last, but the others are good, also.
Good Merlots
| Rank | Price | Year | The Wine |
| 9th | $9 | '97 | Errazuriz (Robert Mondavi), Curico Valley, Chile |
| 8th | $14 | '96 | Fetzer Barrel Select, North Coast, CA. |
| 7th | $13 | '97 | Sterling, Central Coast, CA. |
| 6th | $16 | '97 | Beaulieu, Napa Valley, CA. |
| 5th | $14 | '96 | Beaucanon, Napa Valley, CA. |
| 4th | $14 | '97 | Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Bench Vineyards, Sonoma County, CA. |
| 3rd | $15 | '97 | Fetzer Barrel Select, Sonoma County, CA. |
| 2nd | $10 | '97 | Farallon (Sebastiani), North Coast, California |
| 1st | —It is our... | ||
Wine of the Day
Charles Krug Merlot, Napa Valley, $16
Composition—80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon
Aging—13 mo. in French and American oak at the winery plus two more years in my cellar, so this was the 1996. Suggest you do the same...buy two bottles of the '97, the current release. Try one now and one in the year 2002.
Contact—Ken Freeze, (800) 710-9333, FAX (925) 370-9811
More on Krug—See WineDay Jan. 8, 1999 titled, "How To Start A Winery".
Postscript
This Merlot constitutes less than 1% of Krug production, that totals nearly one million cases a year!
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About the Writer Fred McMillin, a veteran wine writer, has taught wine history for 30 years on three continents. In 1995, the Academy of Wine Communications honored Fred with one of only 22 Certificates of Commendation awarded to American wine writers. For information about the wine courses he teaches every month at either San Francisco State University or San Francisco City College (Fort Mason Division), please fax him at (415) 567-4468. |
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Current WineDay
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WineDay Archive
September 2000
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09/20/00—The Survivor...
09/19/00—Don't Shoot the Messenger
09/18/00—They Aim to Please
09/15/00—PK Is A-OK!
09/14/00—Meanwhile, Back at the Chateau
09/13/00—Sept. 13 Is Grandparents' Day
09/12/00—"Brew-yee" Apogee
09/11/00—No Way, José...White Wines Don't Win!
09/08/00—Like WOW! Whadda Tasting!
09/07/00—Best of the Course
09/06/00—The Dream
09/05/00—The Discovery of Wine According to Omar Khayyam
09/04/00—Your Chardonnay For Labor Day
09/01/00—September Song
This page created September 2000