2001 Sieur D'Arques-Vichon-Merlot

[jackl]

From your description of the wine it sounds like it could be from a region in the south of France known as Languedoc-Rousillion. If the bottle has the phrase 'Vin de pays' then it most likely is from this region. Another good region--some might say the best--for merlot, is the Bordeaux region, which is located roughly in southwestern France. While a good portion of these wines are expensive and worth it, you can find some nice varietal merlot wines for around $10. These are going to be the most basic of Bordeaux wines and will have 'Bordeaux' and usually 'Merlot' written prominently on the label. For these wines I would stick with the 'name brands.' some good ones include Michael Lynch, Lurton, and Christian Moueix. Compared to California merlots, these will be fairly light in body and have minimal wood aging. If anything they demonstrate the difference climate and winemaking styles can make in wines using the same grape.