Wine Asylum

Posted by mchad (A) on September 21, 2011 at 20:56:35

In Reply to: RE: Ch. Ste. Michelle posted by jimbill on September 13, 2011 at 14:56:05

"wonder if this is still the "Sideways" effect?"

I believe it is but Merlot seems to be coming back...and Pinot is still standing too. Maybe this just means more people are drinking wine in general?

Merlot is a fantastic wine/varietal but suffers the same as many varietals have with recent trends to make "bigger is better" wines. This is one reason we tend to favor French wines over monster-Cali types in many instances. That said, it does seem like CA, OR and many other new world wines are gravitating toward a focus on terroir and uniqueness in wines and not so much "look at how freaking huge I am" wines. I think we all win with that type of refined movement.

Mike