It is Friday. Best and Worst Wines of the Week. Cheers!

Okay, after the intensity of my last post I'm certainly glad it is Friday. I had an interesting week of drinking wine. I was over in St. Louis and I'll give a shout out to a great restaurant over there called Harvest. They have been around for sometime but they were just named 2009 Restaurant of the Year. Pretty heady stuff to keep it exciting for that many years AND considering there are a handful of really great new(er) and creative places over there. Very good place. Can't wait to go back.

Anyway. SOB will like this in that I'm going to focus on a few lower priced wines this week. (wine)Alms for the poor outside of JOCO!!!!

The best wine I drank this week: Red Rock Merlot 2006. This is a nice bottle and very affordable. Wine snobs would say pimping Merlot is a little old school and they might be right but coming on the heels of several (snobby) Pinot Noir reviews I thought you might appreciate this and much as I did. It is the Merlot we fell in love with back in the early 90's. It has pleasing plum on the nose without much herbal notes. It is well, clean. It is lush and soft with plenty of concentrated black berry fruit and maybe a little mocha. It has just a little bit of tannin but nothing like Cab. The body really is that soft, lush, dry Merlot we all loved so much. You would call it almost full bodied and it has a lingering finish.

How much: $11 Retail.

Where I drank it: I drank it at Maker's Mark in the Power and Light District.

Final Tip: Pinot is expensive these days and good Merlot is pretty affordable. Red Rock proves this point. Merlot is a good versatile wine that goes well with everything from pizza to burgers to steak. Don't go too cheap though. The under $10 examples are usually pretty light without much flavor. You can quite a bit for $10-$12. If you have seen Sideways, I'd just say after drinking Red Rock...........fuck you Miles. Why would we listen to a neurotic like prick like you anyway? I'm just saying.

The Keith Olbermann (worst wine this week) Sycamore Lane Chardonnay. I guess this wine is only available to restaurants because I've never seen it in a wine shop or even a grocery store. This wine gives all wine a bad name. It was light as water and it tasted like apples with maybe some artifical sweetner in it and some I guess butter. In fact, if you took a slice of an apple, poured a packet of Sweet n low on it, sprayed it with I Can't Believe it is not Butter and took a bite this is maybe what you would get.....except in a bottle. What evil chemist made this liquid and found a way to call it wine?

How much: Free. I was at a catered event but somebody had to pay for it. Pity them.

Where: An event catered by Jack Stack. Food was great but why do they serve that pitiful wine?

Final Tip: A little additional research and I found this is owned by Sutter Home and I'm guessing it is either Sutter Home or worse in a second label. Several of my friends were snickering about the wine so my suggestion would be if you are throwing a catered party ask for something other than Sycamore Lane. Hey folks I might be a wine snob but even a novice would say this wine is beyond cheap and gross at any price.

Vaya Con Dios and Salud!