February 18, 2003
Dinner or Which bottle of wine should we open tonight?
We had the 1999 Sterling Merlot Napa Valley with our dinner tonight. We had a stir fried chicken teriyaki and vegetables and it went well with it. 
Honestly, I was picking the bottle more because I wasn't expecting much and just wanted to get it out of the rack to make room for something else. Boy, was I wrong.
I decanted this wine and it was a regular family event as everyone watched the wine swirl and cascade to the bottom of the decanter. The first thing that was noticeable was the bouquet of vanilla and black cherry that wafted from the mouth of the container. All Daughters agreed that it smelled great even though they don't like the smell of wine.
It was a medium bodied wine with a brilliant purple hue as its color. I noticed more tannins then you'd expect in a merlot because of the other grapes used in this blend. The tannins didn't overpower and gave this wine some real body and a nice finish.
This wine was a Christmas gift from Youngest Little Sister and the first merlot that I've had and enjoyed so much. I probably never would have spent $22.00 on a merlot before this but now I definitely would buy this wine again.
Posted by bbarton at February 18, 2003 09:43 PMComments
I didn't mention an important detail, my sister knows nothing about wine. In fact, the only reason she bought me this bottle was because she heard me say "merlot" in a conversation. I'm willing to bet she got it at Shaw's or the liquor store.
Posted by: Bob on February 19, 2003 03:28 PM
Have you seen this in the stores around here?
Posted by: David on February 19, 2003 03:05 PM