Perfect For Julia Child’s Pot Roast

Blackstone Merlot, 2007 California

Cost: $10-12

What: Blackstone Merlot is one of those wines that you can count on to be an excellent buy year after year. It’s usually not spectacular, but it never disappoints. I’ve had both the 2006 and the 2007 recently and they’re both terrific. The 2007 has some toasted oak aromas with lush fruit flavors of back cherry and raspberry. Everything is smooth and well rounded. It’s a nice sipping wine, but it gets even better with food.

Winery: Based in Sonoma since 1990, Blackstone has become known for balanced, harmonious wines that are consistent from year to year. They take grapes from the best wine-growing regions around the state to create their signature blend. This year the blend is 86% Merlot, 10% Syrah, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Zinfandel. The grapes come from Monterey County, 65%  Mendocino County, 10/%, Madera County, 14%, Sonoma County 7% and Paso Robles 4%. Every year the proportions of the grapes and regions change. The winery bottles eight varietals, five reserves and some limited release wines available only at the winery or online.

Goes with: I had it with pot roast and it couldn’t have been a better match. Inspired by the movie “Julie and Julia” I used Julia Child’s recipe for the pot roast. It called for a full bottle of wine to marinate the roast, so I used the Blackstone Merlot and drank another bottle of it with the meal. It takes some time to make pot roast with this recipe, but it’s worth it. The wine (and brandy) make the meat practically melt. I could barely pull it out of the pot to serve it. I also added potatoes and carrots about 40 minutes before I pulled the roast out of the oven, and the wine and meat flavors soaked up by the vegetables were heavenly. The sublime way the flavors mix and mingle is magical. You almost don’t know when you’re chewing and when you’re drinking. But you definitely know you’re enjoying. This wine also would go with lamb, beef stew, spaghetti with marinara or even grilled salmon.