Wine for a gift

[sohkb]

Is a 1998 Roundhill Merlot a decent bottle of wine to give as a gift? I received it as a gift and not a Merlot fan? Could this bottle already be too old to drink? Any input would be appreciated. I need to give this gift very soon.

[Innkeeper]

Hi Sohkb, and welcome to the Wine Board. Am not a big domestic merlot fan myself. '98 was a very spotty vintage in California. Roundhill is a very steady producer. The wine is definitely not over the hill, nor will it be in the next few years. The only questions is how good it was in the first place? I would give it away to too, but not to a good friend.

[stevebody]

Drink that puppy, my friend, and give a nicer gift. Roundhill is just what IK said: Steady. Not great, sometimes not even okay, but steady. Any '98 should be quite drinkable now but remember that a great many value-priced wines - most, really - are not made to be cellarable, i.e. without the tannins and extraction to provide material that will change and improve the wine as it ripens. Roundhill would have been making that Merlot to Drink Now, not to cellar. All wines don't improve with age, as I found out with a case of Languedoc I bought a year ago that is now so faded it's almost insipid. Drink it now and give your friend a good but affordable Merlot like the Greenwood Springs or the Mason or the Hogue Genesis.

[Drew]

And if you do "re-gift" that bottle, Jerry Seinfeld will be notified immediately, and you will suffer the following punishment..."
No Wine for YOU....1 Year!" [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

DRew