Merlot vs. Pinot Noir?🍷🥊🍷

Every November 7th

In Sam Neill's autobiography he tries to convince the reader that Pinot Noir is the duck's guts when it comes to wine drinking, so I bought a bottle of Pinot Noir from Southern New Zealand called 'South Island', which while not the wine brand Sam owns is the grape variety and same part of the world Sam's own wine comes from.

I couldn't get a bottle of Sam's Two Paddocks brand wine to taste, so I settled on this Southern New Zealand Pinot Noir wine below after reading the reviews.

And while it was OK in that easy drinking watered down tasting red kind of way, it's not the red wine I would choose personally.

Obviously, Pinot Noir is the only grape that would grow down where Sam has his winery, so what's he gonna tell you?

My red wine I drink on a regular basis with my meals at night on most occasions when a red goes with my meal is the wine pictured above, which is a real cheap bang for my buck Shiraz/Cabernet local mix of red wine.

So, knowing that today was 'Merlot Day' I bought a bottle of organic Australian Merlot called 'Farm Hand' and drank it at home with my Amalfis Pizza Lasagne, because Sam wrote in his book how as a young broke actor in New Zealand he would be paid a small amount of cash and free lasagna, which was all he ate most nights during this period of his acting career.  

I'm sorry to say, but I think Sam is wrong about Pinot Noir being the duck's guts when it comes to wine drinking, as I would rather have Merlot any day over Pinot Noir.

Although, my favourite wine is sparkling wine still:-)

How to Celebrate Melbourne Cup Day in 2026, The Year of the Horse?🌏🏆🏇🐴

November 7th, 2026

How to Celebrate Kekri in 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse?🔥🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎