Merlot Revisited

By Al Spoler,

Published June 27, 2018 at 1:57 PM EDT

Merlot's rep as a second class wine is totally undeserved. Click the links to purchase Al and Hugh's recommendations at Kenilworth Wine & Spirits.

The Wines

Price key: $=less than $20 $$= $20-40 $$$=$40-60 $$$$=above $60

Quality key: * = decent wine ** = very good wine *** = superb wine ****= elite

Peirano Estate Merlot, Lodi '14 *1/2 $

Inexpensive, decent everyday merlot

Desert Wind Merlot, Washington State '15 ** $

Good complexity with plum, chocolate, tobacco notes, fleshy texture.

Oberon Merlot, Napa '16 **1/2 $$

Michael Mondavi project, ripe plum and currents, medium bodied.

The Fableist Merlot, Paso Robles '15*** $$ VALUE

Fabulous! Intense, very complex, great length, classy.

I Clivi Merlot, Oriental de Friuli, Italy '09 *** $$

Aged and ready to drink, surprising quality, excellent.

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Al Spoler

Al Spoler, well known to WYPR listeners as the wine-loving co-host of "Cellar Notes" has had a long-standing parallel interest in cooking as well. Al has said, the moment he started getting serious about Sunday night dinners was the same moment he started getting serious about wine. Over the years, he has benefited greatly from being a member of the Cork and Fork Society of Baltimore, a gentlemen's dining club that serves black tie meals cooked by the members themselves who are some of Baltimore's most accomplished amateur cooks.

See stories by Al Spoler

Hugh Sisson

As General Partner of Clipper City Brewing Company, L.P., Hugh J. Sisson is among Baltimore's premier authorities on craft brewing and a former manager of the state's first pub brewery, Sissons, located in Federal Hill. A fifth generation Baltimorean, Hugh has been involved in all aspects of craft brewing.

See stories by Hugh Sisson