I find merlot to be sweet, and doesn’t really pair well with anything. Any suggestions?
Strong flavors like beef and cheddar…
But yeah, strong flavors. BBQ even.
I like to sit down and enjoy my Merlot with a good movie
Hawaiian Punch is a good mixer with merlot. Garnish with a sour gummyworm, a couple of pieces of candy corn, and consume while chewing Bubble Yum for maximum flavor.
Stranger
Beef merlot is just an urban legend, then?
Man. You are too erudite for me.
I love merlots. I’m part of a poker posse that drinks a lot of it.
We pair it with food.
Huh? 
You weren’t by chance drinking white Merlot, were you? Otherwise most styles are dry to very dry.
As previously mentioned good with beef, rare to well done, and cheddar, the sharper the better.
Sure, but what temperature is optimal?
Always consumers choice. Call me a philistine but I prefer dry wines slightly chilled, just a whisper above room temperature.
Beef is good with merlot, especially roasted. It’s not bad with spicy food - sweet cuts heat - but I like beer better, and might choose Gewurztraminer too. But I’m not traditional when it comes to pairing, unless both the food and wine are amazing (in which case I might look it up, despite the unreliability of some experts).
Okay. But I was wondering about the temperature of the Hawaiian Punch and gummy. Call me a snob, but I like the Punch cold and the gummy at room temperature.
A glass is all I need.
Drinkin’ outta da bottle’s too good for you eh?
RIGHT!
That’s a fair cop.
I tend to think of merlot as drier than a lot of other cheap red wines. I’m far from a connoisseur (see: cheap red wines), so I only know a little bit–but compared to lots of the under-$10 bottles, it’s got a nice tannic kick. Is that not how others think of it? A bit of Googling shows that there’s a huge variety of merlot, some of which is syrupy.
Heat the wine for 30 seconds in the microwave, add Hawaiian Punch, wipe the rim of the glass with the gummyworm to get a gelatin layer, and the stick it in the fridge until it starts to congeal. Some will suggest adding an ice cube to speed up the process but only a cad would dilute this fine cocktail with melted ice.
Stranger
Adding some grenadine to that might help bring out more sweetness.
Slight chilling often brings things below room temperature. But it depends where you are starting from. Mulled wine? Mulling that over. Mull. Just like saying that word.
The mention of mulled wine reminds me of sangria, which is a good use of merlot. And then you just have to find something which pairs with sangria, such as tapas, tacos, etc.