Back in late March, a bunch of us tasted merlot one evening and tweeted about it. Like a few hundred people. Posting a few thousand tweets. From all our various living rooms. And tasting rooms. And who knows where all else.

I have to admit I contributed more than 20 of those tweets about Washington merlot, specifically three Washington merlot: 2007 Red Diamond ($7 at Trader Joe’s), 2006 Columbia Crest Estates ($7.99 at Trader Joe’s, and Columbia Crest H3 (on sale at the grocery store for $12) which I paired with a seared ahi on a bed of field greens with rice wine vinegar and sesame oil, a peanut sauce tofu stirfry, and take-out mu shu pork. I was particularly curious about the mu-shu pork match after reading this suggestion on a website that suggested Asian food with Washington merlot.

You can go see yourself by scrolling through my twitter feed but my tweets went something like this:

1. 3 inexpensive easy 2 find #wamerlots & 3 Asian inspired dishes: homemade seared ahi salad & vegie stirfry w/pnut sauce + bought mu shu pork

2. #WAmerlot #1: 2007 Red Diamond. Re’d by TJ’s: great fruity wine for white wine drinker & solid inexpensive example of #WAmerlot–we agree! 5:23 PM Mar 25th

3. #WAmerlot Red Diamond merlot 2007: not thrilled with nose–a bit too funky–color dark & rich & full almost syrah like but not so purple 5:25 PM Mar 25th

4. Red Diamond is a great value for under $10 out the door from Trader Joe’s: something a little different to pick up before a party! #WAmerlot 5:27 PM Mar 25th

5. Red Diamond 2007 not too complex but plenty of fruit–plum, cherry, no cola, reasonable alc at 13.5% 5:28 PM Mar 25th

6. Red Diamond 07 #WAmerlot not much of a finish, but clean & bright. For the $, we’re happy. On to the next wine! 5:30 PM Mar 25th

7. another fine value #WAmerlot easily available and under $10 at TJ’s etc: Columbia Crest Grand Estates 06 5:49 PM Mar 25th

8. Columbia Crest 06 Grand is a simple, easy, accessible $10 #WAmerlot 5:51 PM Mar 25th

9. Nice color, lots of cola on nose 06 #WAmerlot from Columbia Crest. Nothing to be ashamed of–perfectly respectable for under $10 at TJ’s 5:54 PM Mar 25th

10. @gogoanita maybe on average over the year #WAmerlot gets 2 hrs more light but in winter #WAmerlot gets a lot less light than say SOCal 6:06 PM Mar 25th

11. summer in #WAmerlot country is lovely with the late summer warm nights because the sun lasts longer than is does further south 6:07 PM Mar 25th

12. @gogoanita you’re full of interesting #WAwine tidbits tonight! thanks! 6:12 PM Mar 25th

13. OK time for #3#WAmerlot! Red Diamond down, Columbia Crest Grand Estates down, now Columbia Crest H3! 6:33 PM Mar 25t

14. not as impressed by H3 Columbia Crest #WAmerlot as I thought I’d be for $20 retail on sale for $14 after satisfying $10 ones 6:34 PM Mar 25th

15. dinner’s ready so time to pair 3 #WAmerlots w/seared ahi tuna salad, mu shu pork w/plum sauce & vegie tofu stirfry w/peanut sauce! 6:36 PM Mar 25th

16. @cellarmistress I agree–good value for the money! very friendly, just don’t breathe too deep at first opening! 6:36 PM Mar 25th

17. @cellarmistress drinks up fine, yesterday nose was funky today it’s ok 6:59 PM Mar 25th

18. tasted thru 3 #WAmerlots with ahi tuna on field greens w/cheese, blueberries, walnuts, rice vinegar & flax oil–awesome! go to choice! 7:00 PM Mar 25th

19. tasted thru 3 #WAmerlots w/mu shu pork: surprised & disappointed: plum sauce too sweet for these merlot 7:01 PM Mar 25th

20. now to try 3 #WAmerlots with Thai satay peanut sauce tofu vegie stirfry! which ones will be the winners? 7:02 PM Mar 25th

If you want to see everyone’s tweets, or the other side of these multiple conversations, do a search for #WAmerlot. You’ll see a few tweets from as recently as today with a lot around the time of the tasting.