So last Friday night, we had a Merlot tasting.

Here are my scores for the seven wines that we tasted, a 2000 Sterling Napa Merlot, 2000 Rombauer Napa Merlot, 2000 St. Francis Merlot, 2001 Franciscan Napa Merlot, 2002 Bogle Merlot, 2002 Smoking Loon Merlot, and a 2000 M. Trinchero Merlot.

That was the order in which I preferred them. (Or is it the order that I hated the least?) I’ve actually had Merlots that I liked and would buy again. For example, I like the one from Tefft Cellars and Coppola’s Diamond Series Merlot.

If you thought I was tough on them in the scores, you should have seen the low ratings that the Merlot drinkers that I sat with gave them. They were brutal. I noticed that they were paying a lot of attention to the way that the wine looked. If it was a young wine, it had to be crystal clear and not a bit of brown. They needed have a nice-fruity aroma, and a balanced flavor.

I preferred the Sterling over the Rombauer, but I believe that I was the only one who did so. That was until price was considered, then I sat in the majority.