I can suggest Red Diamond 07 and Duck Pond Cellars 04, both from Washington. Frankly, I have been hard pressed to find a bad Merlot from Washington. Some grapes were made for some places and Merlot and Washington go well together. Additionally, I find it is easier to find quality in Merlot under $20.

Enjoy and don't let the wine gurus tell you Merlot can't be high quality.

"Enjoy and don't let the wine gurus tell you Merlot can't be high quality."

Why would they say that if they're "wine gurus"? Also, there's no reason to think that California can't make good merlot. It is after all, a huge place. Too many to list but the Pahlmeyer merlot from 1994 or 1997 is simply spectacular and as good as any wine produced anywhere IMHO. Pride makes a good one every year. If you want to spend less, Whitehall Lane Reserve Merlot is usually very nice and only around $25 or so and in the same range is the merlot from Steltzner, which can be quite good and which ages nicely too.

There's a big difference between good and bad however, partly because merlot is just harder to make than cab sauvignon. So there's a lot of bad merlot around, just like there's a lot of bad pinot noir.

Columbia Crest, Chat St Michelle, Red Diamond, Snoqualmie, NorthStar, Stimson Estate Cellars, Domaine St Michelle, Conn Creek, and Villa Mt Eden are all owned by the same company which used to be called Stimson Lane but is now called Chateau St Michelle wines. And the first two especially have several different lines. THe basic Columbia Crest is never all that great although a lot of people seem to like it, but their Reserve bottling, which is only around $20, delivers a lot for the price. Also in Washington Januik is around that same price point.

Good luck and happy hunting!

GregT,

I was just making the point that Merlot has gotten a bad rap IMO. That people tend to shy away from Merlot for whatever reason and that there are some very good wines in this varietal.

By way of generalization, I find that Washington is a place where Merlot does well. That does not preclude quality from other locales.

Speaking of great merlots, what about that Patrimo, put out by Feudi di San Gregorio. Absolutely marvelous. There are some other really good Italian merlots out there also.

Oh, one I loved from CA is Cameron Hughes Napa Valley Merlot, Lot 79, at about $12. That may be hard to find, but Cameron Hughes, if you can find them at Costco or whatever, has done some nice Merlots in the past.