Pinot Noir and Shirah/z are fine poured straight from the bottle, but to get the most from merlot takes a little more prep. The key to unlocking the fruitiness of the latter is aeration. Pour the bottle into a second vessel (long stream and big landing splashes = more oxygen) and then pour from that one into your glass. It makes a difference.

Of course you have to consume the entire bottle that session. All that aeration literally makes the bottle ephemeral--a creature of a day.

I have eccentric taste in wine (as in most things).  I prefer sherry to wine, and my favorite is Golden Cream, a Canadian sherry that tastes almost exactly the same as the vastly more expensive Harvey's Bristol Cream.

I have been known to drink Merlot, but when I do I mix in some maple syrup for added flavor.  This is, of course, horrifyingly decadent of me.  If you refuse to invite me to dinner as a result, I will understand.

I like red wines, mostly.  Pinot Noir & Shiraz are probably my top two for drinking just to drink.  I like some whites - Riesling is fine, Sauvignon Blanc too.  I generally avoid the Merlot or Merlot blended reds - there's something about Merlot that just goes against me for whatever reason.  Same with Chardonnay - I'm just not a big fan.  Mostly, though, I prefer beer.  Back when Bud & Bud Lite were all you could get, it was pretty hard to find a reasonable beer pairing for many meals, but most decent restaurants have enough microbrews (at least in bottle, if not on tap) that you can find a decent match.

I have vague memories of Mad Dog 20-20.

- derumi (del-me)
"Bobby Fischer? Man, that guy is crazy!" - Mike Tyson