If you find it confusing when wine collectors talk about their trip to the Bordeaux or Burgandy regions in France, never fear, there is hope for you.

On a recent trip to Napa, my fellow travelers helped me to break the code. Countries outside of France cannot call their domestic wines by the French appellations of “Bordeaux” or “Burgandy”.

In the United States we use the terms Cabernet Sauvignon instead of Bordeaux, and Pinot Noir instead of Burgandy.

Because I had cellared two bottles of a 1992 red wine for my son’s twenty-first birthday, I was able to see (and smell) firsthand why one would cellar a Cabernet Sauvignon, but not a Merlot.

Fortunately, my parents had cellared a sublime (a.k.a. expensive) 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon and it was fantastic 21 years later.

Being my frugal self, I had cellared (a.k.a. put on my large wine rack in my pantry) an inexpensive, but good, 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon. Eureka!  It was very, very good 21 years later.

The 1992 Merlot that I had cellared, however was a different story I’ll admit that I did not know in my youth that one does not store away a Merlot for years hence.

We always hear about wine going bad over decades and “turning to vinegar”.  Well, I can attest that it can be a lot worse than that.

The Merlot was revolting.  We could not even manage to try to taste it, because the dirty-diaper-like (sorry) odor was so disgusting.

You may have heard about decanting red wine into a wide-bottomed decanter to aerate it, in order to improve the flavor experience. …read more of The Lean and Green Frugalista Talks Wine here