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Merlot Thursday: Duckhorn Vineyards 50th Anniversary Napa Valley Merlot (2023)
Duckhorn Vineyards is celebrating 50 years, and we are celebrating #MerlotThursday! Today, we’re drinking Merlot and raising a glass to founders Dan and Margaret Duckhorn. (Dan passed away earlier this year at the age of 87, just as this 50th anniversary edition was arriving in stores and restaurants. Margaret passed in 2022.) Carole Hicke interviewed…
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Tasting the 2026 Costco holiday wine calendar: Wines #7-12
Welcome to another brutally honest review of the wines in the 2026 Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar! In case you’re just joining us, we’re tasting all 24 wines in the Costco box. We’ve split them up into four batches of six. The least-bad wine in each grouping wins a prize: the honor of being paired with…
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Merlot Thursday: Oyster Bay Hawkes Bay Merlot (2024)
New Zealand’s Oyster Bay is best known for their juggernaut of a Sauvignon Blanc, so it may surprise some readers that they also make a Merlot. Opening this bottle feels a bit like ordering the burger at a seafood restaurant. A coin toss. It’s either going to be, “Wow–that’s the best burger I’ve ever tasted!”…
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Review: Louis Jadot Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay (2024)
When serving wine, I get requests for “unoaked Chardonnay, please” about as often as a pub musician gets requests for “Tennessee Whiskey.” The backlash against buttery oak bombs is still going strong. Lucky for all of us, there are some woodless wonders coming out of Burgundy, including bright, minerally Chardonnays from the Mâconnais. This bottle…
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Merlot Thursday: Napa Cellars Merlot (2022) at GrapeFest
Happy #MerlotThursday from the 40th Annual GrapeFest in historic Grapevine, Texas. I took an early train this morning with one mission in mind: Find a Merlot and taste it before the sun goes down. I’m currently in the International Wine Experience garden, where wines from California and France are being poured in honor of the…
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Tasting the 2026 Costco holiday wine calendar: Wines #1-6
It’s time to tackle the first group of wines from the 2026 Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar. Corkscrews at the ready! For more info about the 2026 calendar–and a complete list of the wines–check out our earlier post. There are 24 wines in the box, and I’ll be reviewing them in four groups of six. At…
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Merlot Thursday: Markham Vineyards “Six Stack” North Coast Merlot (2023)
As Dallas continues to sprawl northward, newly-built steakhouses pop up along the Tollway overnight, like mushrooms. And, like a forager, I poke at them and turn them over. I’m looking for my next tasty prize: a new bottle for #MerlotThursday. J. Alexander’s has that odd, affluent-suburb combination of steaks and gooey sushi rolls, no happy…
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Merlot Thursday: Clos Pegase Napa Valley Merlot (2023)
A few things have happened since I started writing about Merlot every #MerlotThursday. First, I’ve gained a fresh appreciation for the variety and all its styles and nuances. Second, I’ve gotten better–not perfect, but better–at recognizing Merlot in blind tastings. And third, people have started to approach me with their Merlot stories. The last Merlot…
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Let’s unbox the 2026 Costco holiday wine calendar!
Today we snagged the 2026 Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar! For the third year in a row, we’ll be tearing apart that bright blue cardboard and digging into a selection of international wines from the warehouse giant. Updated 9/13/2026: Our first batch of reviews from the 2026 calendar is now live! Follow along as we taste…
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Merlot Thursday: Château Tour Bayard Montagne Saint-Émilion (2022) + Bordeaux at TEXSOM
Can a centuries-old wine region learn new tricks? Bordeaux is undergoing a major effort to keep up with changes in drinking habits and in the climate. We’ve personally seen these modernization strategies on display at Wine Paris 2026 and this past week, at the TEXSOM Conference in North Texas. Some recent changes revolve around wine…
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Merlot Thursday: BriO de Cantenac Brown Margaux (2018)
Today’s #MerlotThursday wine is composed of just 50% Merlot–but I’m going to argue that it still counts. What can we say? We love Bordeaux blends and sometimes we fudge a little. “BriO” is the second label of Château Cantenac Brown, a classified Third Growth. It is, as we shall see, a fantastic value for Margaux.…
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Merlot Thursday: Les Chênes de Macquin Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (2018)
Les Chênes de Macquin has been uncorked for #MerlotThursday! This Merlot-dominant blend (90%) serves as the second wine of the Premier Grand Cru Classé estate Château Pavie Macquin. It pours up a mouthwatering Bordeaux ruby color, with some garnet variation just starting to emerge across its rim. An oversized glass can barely contain the wonderfully layered aromas:…