Woohoooooooo....It is #MerlotMe month #WinePW

So excited to be back celebrating Merlot Me Month with the crew over at Wine Pairing Weekend.  I look forward to this event all year long.  We drink wine nearly every night with dinner and during October we open mostly Merlot as a tribute to the wineries around the world who celebrate a month long celebration called #MerlotMe.

Each year wineries send out samples of their wines to our members.  We, in turn, write about the wines giving our honest reviews and opinions, talking about the food pairings we tried and whether they were successful pairings or if we would recommend a different pairing for the wine.

We never know what wines we will receive and we are not given any monetary payment for our posts.  Our only obligation is to enjoy the wines and to be completely honest with our reviews.  

Because of all the wild fires this year our wines were slow and late in arriving.  The first wine that I recieved was a new to me Merlot from L'Ecole 41.    L'Ecole 41 is located in Walla Walla in Columbia Valley, Washington.  It is recognized as one of the Washington State's top producers of Merlot.

This was a 2017 edition.  It poured deep and dark.  The aromas are fruit and leather.  It has some mineral notes and spice. It has a SRP of $25.00.

I took this bottle over to my neighbor's for a bonfire on the night it arrived.  My Angel Face brought the makings for S'mores but she prefers just the marshmallows.  This is how to roast a marshmallow according to my little sous chef:

1. Pick out a perfect stick and let grampy make a point on it.
2. Put on your marshmallow
3. You don't want to go where there is fire, just go where it is glowing red.
4. Turn the marshmallow very slowly, keep turning it so it doesn't burn
5. It is done when it is perfectly caramelized.

My Angel Face went on to explain to everyone that caramelize is her new favorite word.  We all agreed that caramelize IS a very good word.  I had shared my wine with our neighbor, Nancy, and she and I agreed that Merlot and caramelized marshmallows make for a wonderful fall night treat.

The next bottle that I received was also from a winery with which I was unfamiliar, Peju.  Peju winery is located in Napa Valley, California.  This bottle was a 2016 and has an SRP of $48.00.  

One of the things that I love about Merlot is that it is so food friendly.  I think it goes with just about anything.  This bottle was 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.  It is a deep red, almost black and smells of fall spices.  It is full bodied and well balanced.  It was wonderful paired with a  Daube de Boeuf À la Gasconne.

This was a very rich dish beef and root vegetables slow braised in red wine and then finished off with the addition of dark chocolate.  It needed a strong wine to stand up to it and this Peju Merlot filled the bill.  

I will be sharing the recipe for Daube de Boeuf À la Gasconne on Monday when we kick off Choctoberfest.

The day that I was writing this post I received two more lovely bottles of Merlot from Duckhorn Vineyards.  Duckhorn wines is a brand with which I am very familiar and which I love.  They are very generous sponsors each year and I always look forward to receiving their selections.  

I will be opening and pairing each of these bottles during #MerlotMe month and sharing them with my readers so stay tuned for that.  

The members of Wine Pairing Weekend are going to be getting together on Saturday, October 10th at 11 AM for Twitter chat.  We will be discussing our thoughts on Merlot and may be joined by reps from the wineries who will be available to answer any questions you might have.  You will find us by following #winePW and #Merlotme.  We look forward to having our readers join us at these chats.

Here are the topics we will be discussing:

• Andrea at The Quirky Cork shares "Three Turkish Merlots"
• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares "Merlot: A Varietal That Plays Well with Others"
• Cindy at Grape Experiences shares "Sip Merlot with Vegetarian Favorites"
• Deanna at Asian Test Kitchen shares "Fall Vegan Menu Paired with 2016 Napa Merlots"
• David at Cooking Chat shares "Merlot Food Pairing: Tips and Favorites"
• Gwendolyn at Wine Predator shares "Meatloaf and #MerlotMe with Sonoma’s Selby and Columbia Valley’s L’Ecole No. 41"
• Jane at Always Ravenous shares "Merlot Pairing: Baked Pasta with Sausage Ragù"
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares "A Tale of Two Merlots at the Grill"
• Jill at L'Occasion shares "What’s So Special About Merlot?"
• Jennifer at Vino Travels shares “Fall is Here! Warm up with a Merlot and Pot Roast Pairing”
• Lauren at The Swirling Dervish shares "October is #MerlotMe Month: Here’s What I’ve Been Sipping"
• Linda at My Full Wine Glass shares "Kicking off #MerlotMe in the Pacific time zone”
• Liz at What's in that Bottle? shares "Make Room for Merlot!"
• Lori at Exploring the Wine Glass shares "Leaves on the Ground and #MerlotMe in my Glass"
• Lynn at Savor the Harvest shares "Next Gen Merlot From Where It All Started"
• Martin at Enofylz shares "A Meatless #MerlotMe Redux"
• Nicole at Somms Table shares "5 #MerlotMe Nights"
• Payal at Keep the Peas shares “Kicking Off Autumn With #Merlotme”
• Pinny at Chinese Wine & Food Pairings shares “#MerlotMe with Markham and L’Ecole No. 41 Merlots and Army Ramen”
• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles shares "Merlot from elegant to badass. Time to #Merlotme."
• Rupal at Syrah Queen shares “#MerlotMe - Best Food Pairings For Merlot”
• Susannah at Avvinare shares “Brazilian Merlot Is Always Welcome At My Table”
• Terri at Our Good Life shares "Merlot Me with Noodless Lasagne"
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares "Woohoooooooo....It is #MerlotMe month"