If you have not seen the movie Sideways yet, you should. It does a great piss take of the hoity-toity world of wine, but one amazing feature of the film was the main character, Miles, trashing Merlot and effusively praising Pinot Noir.

Shortly after the film’s release, Merlot sales dropped by over 3%, while Pinot Noir sales surged by 16%!

Some wine writers and critics jumped on this as a real kernel of truth - that not much good Merlot actually gets made. On one level I agree, but the paradox is that one of the best & most expensive wines in the world – Château Pétrus, made in the prestigious Pomerol region – is 95% Merlot.

Having emigrated to New Zealand (and now Melbourne) from California, I have to admit to a biased Merlot palate that I find hard to please in the Southern hemisphere. Over my very extended wine drinking history I have had the real pleasure of collecting and pouring down my gullet the likes of Duckhorn’s Three Palms Vineyard, Beringer’s Bancroft Ranch & the absolutely stunning Lewis Cellar’s Merlot (and many others too numerous to mention) as well as some none too shabby Washington state fellas.

These wines (I grant you they are top form examples with price tags to match, but there are decent priced ones like Silverado Cellars & Havens) oozed with plummy, dense & rich fruit that generously coated your mouth with a wonderful viscous, lingering finish that just would not go away. They had great class and balance too – all the great wine bits were there.

I truly struggle, however, with Aussie & Kiwi versions of this grape – they seem to be largely green, stemy, veggie and dusted with wood.

Not a very pleasant drop to slurp past your lips and not even a kissing cousin to the American version described above.

There are myriad possible reasons for this, running the gamut from wrong region (temperature and soil) to negligent wine making.

I had a chat not too long ago with a very prominent Australian wine maker, who confessed to me that after 10 years of making Merlot he had finally and amazingly learned that he needed to treat Merlot differently than Cabernet Sauvignon!

Listed below are a few affordable standouts that can be purchased & enjoyed at your local establishment The King of Tonga wine bar at 164a Tennyson St, Elwood.

Yering Farm Wines Merlot Yarra Valley 2004

Yering Farm is a small, family run operation in the Yarra Valley, that seems to do consistently well in various wine shows across their entire wine line. This Merlot definitely has the goods – very rich flavours of plum & cassis, with a very fat palate weight and an oh-so-modest hint of chocolate. Try it as dessert!

Irvine Wines Merlot/Cabernet Franc Eden/Barossa Valley 2005

Jim Irvine started his winery in 1991, after many successful years in the industry guiding a variety of well-known wineries on to greater glory. Irvine has built a solid and respected name with its Merlots (in fact, he calls himself Australia’s Master Merlot Maker) with his top of the line James Irvine Grand Merlot regularly rating in the high 90’s from wine critic James Halliday & carrying a price tag of $100 a bottle.

A very good example, with the Cabernet Franc adding just the right amount of silkiness & body.

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