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Question about the Movie Sideways

H

Hammerhead

Platinum Member
I was watching the movie Sideways the other night and there was one scene where they were making fun of merlot. I'm not a wine drinker, so I don't understand what was so funny. What's wrong with merlot?
 
It sucks? I dunno, I'm no wine connoisseur (sp?) but I've never liked Merlot. Gimme a nice bottle of Reisling though and I'm a happy man.
 
Originally posted by: AbAbber2k
It sucks? I dunno, I'm no wine connoisseur (sp?) but I've never liked Merlot. Gimme a nice bottle of Reisling though and I'm a happy man.
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Saying you have never liked merlot is like saying you don't like dark beer. Thats fine, but that does not mean that there is something wrong with it. I have a few merlots that I really enjoy. And yes, there is even a Pinot Noir that I will drink, in spite of the movie Sideways.
 
The same thing that is "wrong" with Chardonnay: It is the most bastardized varietal in the US. Chardonnay and Merlot were trendy varietals in the 90s, and so there were a lot of winemakers that attempted to cater to the masses by creating palatable Chardonnays and Merlots. Unfortunately, the masses generally don't know wine, and what you often got was a flat, filtered, blended, overoaked mess being passed off as wine in a $5 bottle.

I don't know if he was objecting to this aspect of Merlot or not, but that's the only thing that could be considered "wrong." The French produce fabulous Merlots in the Bordeaux region; perhaps the most prominent example is Saint Emilion. The US produces excellent Merlots as well, and I think my favorite expression is in the Columbia Valley region of Washington.
 
Originally posted by: Descartes
The same thing that is "wrong" with Chardonnay: It is the most bastardized varietal in the US. Chardonnay and Merlot were trendy varietals in the 90s, and so there were a lot of winemakers that attempted to cater to the masses by creating palatable Chardonnays and Merlots. Unfortunately, the masses generally don't know wine, and what you often got was a flat, filtered, blended, overoaked mess being passed off as wine in a $5 bottle.

I don't know if he was objecting to this aspect of Merlot or not, but that's the only thing that could be considered "wrong." The French produce fabulous Merlots in the Bordeaux region; perhaps the most prominent example is Saint Emilion. The US produces excellent Merlots as well, and I think my favorite expression is in the Columbia Valley region of Washington.
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I think you're right. The guy objecting to merlot was a wine connoisseur and it seemed like he was against the "trendy-ness" of merlot.
I was just asking to see if there was anything else beyond that.
 
Originally posted by: Hammerhead
Originally posted by: Descartes
The same thing that is "wrong" with Chardonnay: It is the most bastardized varietal in the US. Chardonnay and Merlot were trendy varietals in the 90s, and so there were a lot of winemakers that attempted to cater to the masses by creating palatable Chardonnays and Merlots. Unfortunately, the masses generally don't know wine, and what you often got was a flat, filtered, blended, overoaked mess being passed off as wine in a $5 bottle.

I don't know if he was objecting to this aspect of Merlot or not, but that's the only thing that could be considered "wrong." The French produce fabulous Merlots in the Bordeaux region; perhaps the most prominent example is Saint Emilion. The US produces excellent Merlots as well, and I think my favorite expression is in the Columbia Valley region of Washington.
Click to expand...

I think you're right. The guy objecting to merlot was a wine connoisseur and it seemed like he was against the "trendy-ness" of merlot.
I was just asking to see if there was anything else beyond that.
Click to expand...

Nope. They can be quite good or bad, but that's no different than any varietal. The notion of a varietal being somehow bad/wrong would imply it's inherently so, and since it's subjective to individual taste that's rather not possible. There are some varietals that are consistently regarded as being impalatable or uninteresting, but even then it all depends.
 
Originally posted by: Descartes
Originally posted by: Hammerhead
Originally posted by: Descartes
The same thing that is "wrong" with Chardonnay: It is the most bastardized varietal in the US. Chardonnay and Merlot were trendy varietals in the 90s, and so there were a lot of winemakers that attempted to cater to the masses by creating palatable Chardonnays and Merlots. Unfortunately, the masses generally don't know wine, and what you often got was a flat, filtered, blended, overoaked mess being passed off as wine in a $5 bottle.

I don't know if he was objecting to this aspect of Merlot or not, but that's the only thing that could be considered "wrong." The French produce fabulous Merlots in the Bordeaux region; perhaps the most prominent example is Saint Emilion. The US produces excellent Merlots as well, and I think my favorite expression is in the Columbia Valley region of Washington.
Click to expand...

I think you're right. The guy objecting to merlot was a wine connoisseur and it seemed like he was against the "trendy-ness" of merlot.
I was just asking to see if there was anything else beyond that.
Click to expand...

Nope. They can be quite good or bad, but that's no different than any varietal. The notion of a varietal being somehow bad/wrong would imply it's inherently so, and since it's subjective to individual taste that's rather not possible. There are some varietals that are consistently regarded as being impalatable or uninteresting, but even then it all depends.
Click to expand...

yeah. Rose is for chumps 😉
 
Originally posted by: Hammerhead
I was watching the movie Sideways the other night and there was one scene where they were making fun of merlot. I'm not a wine drinker, so I don't understand what was so funny. What's wrong with merlot?
Click to expand...

The merlot scene is actually the proverbial literary reference that separates the A students from the A+ students.

Milo's prized wine is a 1961 Cheval Blanc, which just happens to be a merlot-cabernet blend - two of the wine types he spends the most time tearing apart. On the one hand, it's a clever inside joke for the wine snobs. On the other hand, it's a treasure trove of literary cannonfodder for analysis on just how far off the deep end Milo has gone.
 
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