“Merlot is the first wine I fell in love with when I arrived in Napa. In my opinion, it is the perfect food wine,” says Markham winemaker Kimberlee Nicholls.
When people ask me for wine recommendations, I ask them what they like and what they’re eating. While they may not know what the menu might be, they do know one thing:
They want a SMOOTH wine.
When I heard that Wine & Spirits Magazine awarded L’Ecole No 41 as a Top 100 Winery of the Year, I said “#MerlotMe Baby!”
If you, like me, can’t get enough of #Merlot even after a month of #MerlotMe, you might want to check out “Masters of Merlot: Seminar, Tasting and Walk-around Reception with Merlot’s Biggest Champions” Continue reading
So if you’ve been on the prowl here at Wine Predator a time or two, you may have noticed that we love to pair Merlot with salmon, especially Washington Merlot like we did here with these. But when my husband came home from the store with a beautiful steak, I thought I’d look through my #MerlotMe samples for something that was blended with a Cabernet for that night — but something that would pair well with salmon for the following evening when Sue would be coming over!
That’s why I chose this Nine Hats Merlot from Washington– it’s mostly Merlot but it has some Cabernet Franc in it too. What a winner with both the turf — beef — and the surf — salmon! Continue reading
Yes, you read that right: for Wine Pairing Weekend this #MerlotMe month with our host Jeff Burrows at Food Wine Click!, we offer a pairing of Washington Merlot with salmon and ahi tuna!! As well as a somewhat untraditional cheese plate… Continue reading
Go Team! Go Merlot Day!
When your team is in the World Series or another BIG GAME , you need to watch it on a really nice screen. Better yet with good friends, good food, and good wine!
Because we don’t have TV, we hit up Myr and Charles and they were happy to host us especially since my husband offers to do most of the cooking! He roasted brussels sprouts, seasoned and BBQ’d a tritip and two slabs of salmon, Myr roasted pumpkins and cooked lentils for a salad, and we all contributed to a cheese tray.
Wait– red wine? and fish?
For #MerlotMe in October, several wineries sent us Merlot samples. We tasted, paired, and blogged about world class wine from California and Oregon with prices ranging from $15-$55 including Duckhorn, Peju, Murphy-Goode, and more which we paired with everything from squash soup to gourmet grilled cheese to French cuosine which you can read about here and here.
But the moment I saw that bottle of Northstar Merlot from the Columbia Valley in Washington I knew that #MerlotMe would not happen in October because I’d be saving it for when the tuna boat would come in!
Just as fisherfolk use the North Star as a directional guide, “Northstar Winery was established in the early 1990s to guide the creation of world-class Merlot-based wines that demonstrate the potential of the variety in Washington State.”
Because, you see, we live in a harbor with a fish market, and when tuna is in season from December to April, the boat comes in once a month or so with a load of fresh ahi, opah, wahoo, swordfish and more. You can buy a whole fish or buy the pound.
And there is nothing better to pair with Washington Merlot than Seared Ahi Tuna.
Northstar – Merlot – Columbia Valley – 2012 – 14.7% alcohol – SRP $40 Continue reading
