What’s the Aging Potential of Merlot Wines: Cellaring Secrets

Merlot Aging Guidelines Merlot Category Aging Recommendation Inexpensive Merlots (Under $10 USD) Enjoy within a year of purchase Standard Merlots ($10-$20 USD) Best consumed within the first 3 to 5 years after release Premium Merlots ($20+ USD) May be able to age for 5-7 years Merlot is a red wine grape variety that is known […]

A Good Red Wine for Beginners

Red wines are a little intimidating. They come in such a divergent range of profiles and flavors, that it’s no wonder you can stand in front of an isle of 100 different wines and decide it’s better to walk away empty handed.  A good red wine for beginners helps you learn about different grape profiles. […]

What Makes a Wine a Bordeaux?

When someone says ‘Bordeaux’, what exactly do they mean? Bordeaux (Bore-doh) can be a place, a wine, or even a wine style. Bordeaux wines, mostly red blends, originate from France’s Bordeaux region on the Atlantic coast. Dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Carménère, and Malbec in varying proportions, these wines […]

What Does Vintage Mean on Wine?

If you hang around wine people long enough, you’re bound to hear a wide range of strange new vocabulary bandied about: sur lee, grippy tannins, and legs. One noteworthy word is vintage, which technically refers to a number. While numerically expressed as a year, the vintage actually refers to the growing conditions over an entire […]