Sideways the movie, interesting note sub

I liked the film a lot, but would think it a sad commentary on current film if it's the best of the year- good, funny, sometimes provoking, but not really profound.

As to Merlot, I think it's helpful to differentiate between Merlot (as a grape) and Merlot (as commonly produced in California, especially the under-$20 bottles).

Merlot the Grape is clearly capable of greatness- Petrus is about 95% Merlot, for that matter I can't think of a Pomerol that is less than 75%, all of which could be labeled Merlot if in CA. Falesco's Montiano (sometimes good, occasionally great) is 100% Merlot. And while not always totally in my favorite styles, some quality CA merlots such as Matanzas, Pride, Pahlmeyer etc are certainly world clbutt wines.

But when people go into a restaurant and order "a glbutt of Merlot",that's not what they want or get. Some California winemakers have created a style of Merlot that appeals to a lot of people, if not neccessarily a lot of geeks. In a warm climate Merlot can easily make a fully ripe grape with high yields. The prevalent style is : 1) ripe low-acid 2) some new oak (or oak chips) 3) low tannins (Merlot as a rule is less tannic than CS) 4) possibly a tiny amount of residual sugar. Even if they don't leave any RS, ripe fruit and low acidity will leave a "sweet" impression. HTH