I opened a 2002 Marilyn Merlot on Sat., and I could tell just by the color, it was going to be crap. It hadn't turned, or gone bad, but the wine was light fruit juice, at best. The flavor appeared to have no hint of anything merlot, or any real grape. It was stupid.
I've seen Marilyn Merlots sell as collectibles for high prices, and am wondering if any of them sell for the wine, or do they sell for just the novelty?
Karen
The latter, I think. I seem to recall that there were two Marilyn Merlots, too, one from Italy and one from the US. If this is true (and I'm not sure that it is) it could be that one is more collectible than the other. Certainly I've seen Marilyn Merlot for sale in grocery stores over the years.
Mark Lipton
Mark, I've only seen the California one. Pretty sure it's generic CA, not Napa, so the $20-35 price is pretty steep from a wine standpoint.
Karen, by color do you mean it was browning? That sounds more like bad storage somewhere along the line rather than winemaking (though I've never heard anything positive re theMM as wine)
No, it wasn't brown at all. It was the color of merlot only watered down by 50% and the flavor seemed like it was watered down grape juice. It wasn't bad in grimmacing type bad, it was just weird. There was no fermentation or depth or anything.
It was more transparent in color but still that range of red.
Karen
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required