Merlot producers have been absolutely livid since that movie came out! Sounds silly but that movie had such a ridiculously large impact on the industry

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Careful a lot of flood cars coming on the market.

IMHO if your buying that new your going to save yourself a lot of headache and time looking at junk, by just going to the MBUSA website and searching only their CPO inventory. Dealers keep the best examples, all the rest are auctioned.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

^x2

That is exactly the way I would do it if I wanted to purchase a MB that was only two or three years old.

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Jim

Yep, spend the extra couple grand and just don't mess around. When my buddy was G500 hunting he finally got fed up with driving two hours to look at junk and did this. Found a nice example that way.

E350's are amazingly common, should be able to dig up a nice one within a reasonable drive that's CPO within a couple days.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I'm sure Merlot producers have been hurt as much as Pinot Noir producers have benefited from the movie. I don't know anyone who was drinking Pinot before the movie came out. Everyone was drinking cabs and merlots.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Yep, PN is nuts now. I work in the wine industry--can't get anything great with merlot except for big name high end producers but seems like everyone is making Pinot noir. Merlot grape sellers went from something like 5k/ton to 2k! To be fair, Pinot noir is a lot easier to grow so its understandable that a lot have gone that route. Cali Cab is going to be big no matter what.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I'm glad Pinots have become popular.

Robert Parker destroyed the cabs. He likes 'em bold and overpowering with high alcohol content, and Merlots were starting to taste like cabs.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Yeah but I would argue that's not a bad thing, Merlots kind of needed a bump into the 21st century. Also PNs are fantastic, even though im a big bold cab guy there's something about a silky Pinot noir that just hits the spot. Think the best I've had is a William knuttel (of ottimino) 777 clone. Out of curiosity, what vineyards are you visiting (even small ones, can pm if you don't want to clog the thread)?

Robert Parker is going nuts. He just doled out 11 perfect 100 scores with his latest edition. 11 wines that will never ever be surpassed in one vintage? No thanks, at least give them a 99+ . His health is failing as well, think he might be on a demise. Galloni just started his own publication too so he's no longer with WA. I'm a fan of tanzer and his 'stache personally.

RP certainly revolutionized the industry though, he's done everyone a huge favor.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

We visited Andrew Murray, Curtis, Firestone, Fess Parker, Alma Rosa, Blair Fox, and Foxen winery.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".