English Experts

[Tiago Tafari Catelam]

When somebody asks "What's a good year for ______", what does that mean?

For example, on this video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRwIZ36po3Y
at 3:38 Michael Moore asks "What's a good year for merlot".

I know that "merlot" is a wine, but I didn't get it what he is asking...

[Robert]

When you talk about wine, it's common to refer to the year of harvesting the fruit.

Different fruit varieties are better some years than others. So when Michael Moore says "what's a good year for merlot?" He's asking in which year was the grape variety (merlot) considered at it's best.

So, the response might be 'for merlot, 1997 was an excellent year for a Marlborough merlot'. When the season was perfect for growing that particular grape variety.

Of course the same grape variety, is grown in different regions of the globe. Normally in a temperate climate like Chile, France, California, Australia, and where I'm from New Zealand. So, a better question might be "what's a good year for a Californian merlot". Marlborough is a wine growing area in New Zealandhttp://www.wine-marlborough.co.nz/home.htm.

I hope this is helpful

[Tiago Tafari Catelam]

When you talk about wine, it's common to refer to the year of harvesting the fruit.

Different fruit varieties are better some years than others. So when Michael Moore says "what's a good year for merlot?" He's asking in which year was the grape variety (merlot) considered at it's best.

So, the response might be 'for merlot, 1997 was an excellent year for a Marlborough merlot'. When the season was perfect for growing that particular grape variety.

Of course the same grape variety, is grown in different regions of the globe. Normally in a temperate climate like Chile, France, California, Australia, and where I'm from New Zealand. So, a better question might be "what's a good year for a Californian merlot". Marlborough is a wine growing area in New Zealandhttp://www.wine-marlborough.co.nz/home.htm.

I hope this is helpful

Thanks for the fast reply! But I still have 2 questions:

1) Isn't more appropriate say "What was a good year for merlot" ? Once the year already passed...

2) Why, on that video, people say "who" when they don't know the name "merlot"? Could this question (What's a good year for) be applied for people as well? For example: "What's a good year for Tiago" ?

Thanks again!