Gotta pick six merlots for a wine tasting

If you want a Leonetti-style Merlot at 1/2 the cost, try Boudreaux Cellars' Merlot:
http://www.boudreauxcellars.com
The winemaker, Rob Newsom, is Gary Figgins' fishing buddy. Not surprisingly, the wine is in just the same style as Gary's Leonetti Merlot. The winery is a great visit by the way. It's out of the way, up Icicle Canyon Road near Leavenworth, but definitely worth the drive.

Dave

Joe--you, reccomending Leonetti? I must be hearing things.

Part of his canny strategy.

Hey, why not? You might as well throw in something that has been made in that "other" style, if for nothing but perspective. Otherwise the tasting might be better dubbed "American Merlot that doesn't taste like 90% of American Merlot." I mean, nobody drinks American Merlot for a restrained, savory, cerebral experience, do they?

Leonetti gets good fruit, and if you like that kind of a wine, it'll rock your world.

I do not know if it is too late to pop in here but in the past I have liked Merlot from Chateau Julien in Monterey. From what I remember they specialize in Merlot and I am not too sure how "well known" they are.

[Jenise]

So the intent is not primarily to have a tasting to showcase the better range of merlots available from WA and CA? And not even to showcase the representative styles of merlot from WA and CA?

Hoke, there are two planners, Jim and I. And Jim and I have modestly different approaches. Jim feels that if we supply wines that people can't get, we get bitched at. Me, I have no real evidence that anybody has actuallly ever tried to buy a wine we poured, so I want to supply wines people can learn from. What we usually end up serving is a mix between the two so that Jim can serve Wine For The People and Jenise gets her geeky little "you really should know about this" wines in.

Is the intent to select merlots that are not easily and readily available?

Here in the Pacific Northest Westest, there's actually more than one standard for "easily and readily available". Jim judges that by Bellingham supermarkets. I judge that by what's in Seattle.

Could it be the intent is for Jenise to display how sophisticated and knowledgeable she is,

Absolutely not.

and to introduce her acquaintances to wines they've never had before?

Absolutely. Because I fight against the mentality of person who plays it safe, who goes to the store and buys the same $10 wine week in, week out, and that is largely who we're pouring for at these tastings. I'd rather flush the money down the toilet on bottle after bottle of experimental dreck (some might say I do that anyway) than drink the same MOR wine day in day out. Someone once said to me, "Well, I'm not a connoisseur like you, I'm happy with $10 wines" to which I responded, "Us connoisseurs drink $10 wines too. We just work 25 times harder than you do to find the one great $10 wine." And I still stand by that. Because if I'm not doing that, then I'm just drinking.

We all want to be 'bringers of discoveries', don't we?

Yes.

because Costco (and especially so in WA) is the very definition of what is easily and readily available in the common market.

You're not wrong. But you have to understand that to many people up here California wine not made by Kendall Jackson is actually fairly exotic in and of itself. The standard for Washington wines is slightly different. ALSO, remember I have a spending limit. I only have X amount to spend. In order to afford some of the geekier choices there's some sense in buying a Franciscan or an MC at under $20 at Costco. It may be the only under $20 California merlot in these here parts that doesn't have a Kendall Jackson or Gallo label. Oh, besides Sebastiani, and both are a lot better than the Sebastiani (which coincidentally showed up at the same party I took these two to along with Sixth Sense syrah and Windmill Zinfandel).

Hoke, there are two planners, Jim and I. And Jim and I have modestly different approaches. Jim feels that if we supply wines that people can't get, we get bitched at. Me, I have no real evidence that anybody has actuallly ever tried to buy a wine we poured, so I want to supply wines people can learn from. What we usually end up serving is a mix between the two so that Jim can serve Wine For The People and Jenise gets her geeky little "you really should know about this" wines in.

Interesting, Jenise. Just this week the SF Chron's feature in the Wine section had to do with this very same topic: the writer of the article related that he got bitched at (letters/e-mails to the editor) when he reccoed all these hard-to-find, off-the-beaten-path, or way-out-of-stock wines, so he selected several popular wine shops in the SF area, and had them each select and describe their faves (all of which not coincidentally, were heavily in stock).

I'm closer to your approach, in truth. I love the discoveries, the "you really should know about this" stuff, as you say. But I guess we all need the balance of the Jim approach too.

Just the other day I caused an epiphany with a woman (nah, don't go there; this wasn't that kind of thing). Selected a wine for a woman who previously had thought she only liked fat, buttery CA chards----and she fell in love with this lovely, fat but decidedly not buttery Loire Chenin, a Jasnieres from Belliviere. Couple of days later she asks me where in the world she can find it, because she's been to two wine shops already. One of them didn't have the slightest idea what she was talking about; the other said maybe they could get it, was she interested in a case of it.

Hey, I figure I did a good thing in broadening her horizons. Maybe she'll be more open in the future to other wines, right? And eventually she might even find that Jasnieres. Even if she doesn't, I know a couple of other Loire wines that may do the trick for her.

You're not wrong. But you have to understand that to many people up here California wine not made by Kendall Jackson is actually fairly exotic in and of itself.

See., that's why this tickled me, Jenise: Matanzas Creek is owned by Kendall-Jackson. Well, Jess Jackson, really, I suppose. Guess the Matanzas Creek moniker makes it more exotic than good old K-J, just as Cambria makes a different impression from K-J as well.

I know about the WA market that you describe. Live/worked there for five years, and still get up there on a regular basis. Truth is, in the grand scheme of things, Seattle is a great wine market, especially so for European wines; much more so than most of the rest of the country outside of the eastern seaboard. B-ham, of course, is an entirely different place. And the definition of "exotic" definitely changes from place to place. That applies everywhere, even here in wine-drenched CA.

The way I look at your merlot question is that you do your due diligence (which you're doing here), check out the options available to you. Put together a balanced representation of merlots along the lines laid out (which you're also striving to do), and try to ensure that each of the wines is at least attainable by an average person, and figure you've done your duty.

And then wait for an epiphany to strike.

[Jenise]

so he selected several popular wine shops in the SF area, and had them each select and describe their faves (all of which not coincidentally, were heavily in stock).

When Jim balks at what we can't procure locally, I always make the point "If it's in Seattle, it's in the system. Any store in Bellingham can order it too. It's not like we're serving Mars wine." But yes, it's a good idea to have some of both. Because:

Matanzas Creek is owned by Kendall-Jackson. Well, Jess Jackson, really, I suppose. Guess the Matanzas Creek moniker makes it more exotic than good old K-J, just as Cambria makes a different impression from K-J as well.

Exactly. You know darned well I was talking about the recognizable KJ label, not the hidden facts about ownership. Too, ownership would make no difference to 45 out of the 50 people we're serving, and a portion of those would probably think KJ ownership is a plus. They drink KJ chardonnay so they'd buy KJ Merlot unquestioningly. Matanzas Creek is as myserious as Paloma, and if our pouring that wine got them to step up to the $18 price point instead of grabbing the same old same old at $10 or something new/different only because it was even cheaper, we'd in fact have accomplished something important.

But like I said, those people come to the tastings mostly for entertainment. The 5 or 6 who will actually remember what they liked a week later and even seek it out, those are the people I'm really shopping for.

The way I look at your merlot question is that you do your due diligence (which you're doing here), check out the options available to you. Put together a balanced representation of merlots along the lines laid out (which you're also striving to do), and try to ensure that each of the wines is at least attainable by an average person, and figure you've done your duty.

And then wait for an epiphany to strike.

That's exactly where we are. [/quote]

Jenise, For something completely different, toss in a few bottles of Chilean Carmenere.

Someone gave me a bottle of 2004 Vina Requingua Puerto Viejo Reserve Carmenere six months ago. At ~$10 or so, it is a pretty good buy, and it just might be very good entertainment. For example, see if folks can tell the difference between Merlot and Carmenere. [Remember, for many years, folks thought Carmenere was Merlot.] In addition, the bottle has a very cool looking thin slice of wood as its front label.

-- Clark

For something completely different, toss in a few bottles of Chilean Carmenere.

Great idea, but since the comparison is between WA and CA, why not use a Washington Carmenere? I tasted (and bought) one from Morrison Lane this summer that I really enjoyed.

For something completely different, toss in a few bottles of Chilean Carmenere.

Great idea, but since the comparison is between WA and CA, why not use a Washington Carmenere? I tasted (and bought) one from Morrison Lane this summer that I really enjoyed.

Very good point; I lost track of the CA-WA theme. On the other hand, at $10, the Chilean wine could be used in the warmup category. All in all, some interesting possibilities.