Selene’s 2008 Merlot Frediani Vineyard possesses a dark ruby color as well as a sweet perfume of red and black fruits intermixed with white chocolate and cocoa, a lush, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel and a heady finish. Drink this seductive Merlot over the next 5-6 years. It’s a shame Merlot has taken such a beating. Certainly, the poor examples have fallen by the wayside, but some good ones are still out there and readers need to pay more attention to them. It’s a world-class grape so forget the absurdity of the anti-Merlot nonsense in the movie “Sideways.”Tel. (707) 258-8119; Fax (707) 258-8132

A good wine, dry and softly tannic, with cherry, red currant, violet, cocoa and sandalwood flavors, and it has an easy-drinking quality that makes it a good companion to steak. Seems best soon for its precocious fruit.——S.H.(9/1/2010)—— 88