Merlot: a personal and versatile favorite
Growing up my family drank Burgundy as the wine of choice. I don't believe that I personally cared for it much, but I drank it almost as a matter of respect. Wine wasn't a beverage for guzzling or swashing down, even if it was poured out of a box into a less than elegant plastic cup.
Wine was meant to be sipped and savored and thereby to appreciate everyting that it stood for: its European roots, its earthy soil and hours spent rustling leaves under a golden sun in a beautiful vineyard so different from where we lived, its reminder of a simpler time when simpler foods, a hunk of bread,cheese, and a glass of wine, was all there was to be had.
Despite the wonderful nostalgic quality of these sentiments it wasn't until later years that I, along with my husband, decided we should garner some true appreciation for wine. After repeated trial and error and several bad bottles that were so acidic it nearly turned my mouth inside out, I settled on a favorite, Merlot.
Whereas some wines, such as Burgundy and Champagne, are so called for the region where they originated, Merlot is named for the grape from which it is produced. Merlot is a red-wine grape used both for blending, to create other wines, or as a varietal wines, that is, a wine based purely off of the grape which is on the label.
The Bordeaux region of France is widely planted with merlot and due to it's versatility the grape maintains a growing popularity world-wide. Merlot is a soft-bodied wine renowned for its fruity characteristics which pair well with a wide variety of foods. It is this which makes Merlot a favorite with new adventurers in wine.
For more on food and wine pairings visit www.winelove.org/food_pairing.htm and if you haven't yet expanded your horizons in the direction of wine remember that Merlot is a good place to start.
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Merlot: a personal and versatile favorite
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