Name: Founders' Estate Merlot

Varietal: Merlot

Region: Napa Valley, United States

Vintage: 2005

Price: ~ $17

Winter is coming and I'm still dragging ass trying to hold onto summer. Gotta pick up the hammer again and finish off our renovations and work is supposed to get busier as the months progress. October? It's already October? What the hell happened to September?

Big story today in Halifax about a Bishop named Raymond Lahey who was caught with child pornography on his computer. What makes this story a little different is that previously he brokered a $15-million settlement for victims of sexual abuse by priests of the diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia. As I was following this today the comments on the CBC website were just pouring in by the second. One of the reasons why I absolutely appreciate the internet: although I may not agree with some of the comments, we're all given a platform or forum in which to be heard.

What does this have to do with wine? Absolutely nothing.

I'm a follower of Wine Access Magazine's twitter updates and one of their daily wines was the Beringer 2006. Unfortunately for me the wine store near my place didn't carry that vintage so I had to settle for the 2005. The bouquet smells of ripe plums, blackberries and a touch of black cherries. On the palate it was a full bodied merlot with warm spice flavours. It was complex enough for me to try and identify the various spice and berry notes and finished long and dry. Balanced and velvety. My only thing would be to let it breathe for a bit before drinking.

You know, after all the previous pedophile talk, here's a video to lighten things up (pun intended). Play it over and over again. Put it on a loop if you have to.

J