I had the pleasure of spending the holidays in Florida with my family.

I drank too much great wine , played on my new Wii, and spent some much needed free time with my family. My family has been very supportive of our attempt at launching Winescorecard.com on a shoe string budget, and consequently they don’t get as much time with me as they probably should.

It was really great to see what kind of super-cool girl my daughter is. Some people just have that vibe, and some don’t. She has it. And she knows it. I fear the teenage years.

Of course, I tried some excellent wine while I was down south. Among my favorites was the 2004 Columbia Crest Columbia Valley Grand Estates Merlot. I have never been a fan of merlot - once it became popular it seemed like California producers started producing absolute junk in their rush to market. And I can understand that. Even sympathize with it at some level.

But I was truly surprised at how good the Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot really is. Fruity with a clean finish, it is very soft on the palate. For $8/bottle (or thereabouts, thanks to those great folks at B-21 Fine Wine & Spirits) you really cannot go wrong with this wine.

I also tried the 2005 Bottega Vinaia Trentino Pinot Noir. I wouldn’t call this wine anything spectacular, but I enjoyed it. A bit of a nutty finish which I found pretty appealing, and full of fruit. I have certainly had better pinots though, so I wouldn’t go to out of your way for it.

I’ll cover some of the other wines over the next few weeks.

A little golf, some interesting wines, time with my family. It is hard to imagine a better holiday.