Orin Swift "Advice from John" Merlot 2024
(California) - [WS 93] [DM 93]

About the Winery:
Orin Swift Cellars was founded by David in 1998: Orin is his father's middle name and Swift is his mother's maiden name. With two tons of zinfandel and not much else, he spent the next decade making wine for others as well as himself and grew the company into a multi-national brand that now includes 300 acres of vineyards in the Southwest of France. This international ambition has led to projects in Spain, Italy, Corsica, Argentina and other locations around the globe. In 2016, Orin Swift (the brand, remaining inventory and the tasting room in St. Helena) was purchased by E. & J. Gallo Winery. Founder Dave Phinney continues to be involved in a consulting role.

About this Wine:
Like many things at Orin Swift, what started as a fascination quickly turned into an obsession. Samantha Smith, Dave Phinney’s long time executive assistant (read: chauffeur, gopher, right hand ma’am, therapist, etc.), managed amidst her daytime job to multitask away at a book, Advice From John—an anthology of the brilliant, idiotic and sometimes deep thoughts found at the bottom of a cocktail and then subsequently scribbled and scrawled onto to the walls of dive bar bathrooms. ‘You Had Me At Hell No’, captured at a dive in Texas, caught Dave’s eye while ruminating ideas on how to bring Merlot back into the mainstream fold—long pilloried for its second of fame in THAT movie two decades ago. All good things circle back around, so, let’s revitalize this delicious, luscious and fun varietal. Grab a bottle of some good ole Advice and enjoy!

Winemaker's Notes:
Dominating aromatics abound without effort—notes of blackberry pie, black plum, sage and lilac come from the glass. A flooding sensation on entry drives dark fruits onto the mid-palate with touches of savory, fennel and licorice as complements. Long on the finish, the espresso bean and continued concentration of blackberry throughout fades slowly with gentle and soft tannins.

BLEND: Merlot 

MATURATION: Aged for 14 months in French Oak, 25% New

Ratings & Reviews

93 Points - Wine Spectator:
"A flamboyant style that’s loaded with toasty oak and spices, plus bold flavors of black cherry, mocha espresso and sweet tobacco that end with plush tannins. Merlot and Petite Sirah. Drink now through 2034. 9,873 cases made." - Tim Fish (Jun 2026)

93 Points - Decanter Magazine:
"Advice From John began as a side project sparked by curiosity. When Dave Phinney’s longtime assistant, Samantha Smith, asked for time off to visit New Orleans and Austin, Texas, she admitted it was to wander dive bars across the US photographing the so-called ‘words of wisdom’ scrawled inside bathroom stalls. The project expanded well beyond the States—she travelled internationally, compiling a compendium of thousands of photographs capturing what people write in bathrooms around the world. That archive eventually became a book, Advice From John, organised into themed chapters drawn entirely from restroom stall graffiti. Samantha selected a handful of favourites and enlarged them dramatically on metal, and this label features one such phrase pulled from a restroom stall in Dallas, Texas. As Dave Phinney explains, the idea behind the wine was simple: what are people actually telling us? Price matters. The goal was to create something approachable, by the glass, under $20, and—crucially—a wine people would want to order a second time. Merlot was the natural choice, sourced from Gallo-owned sites to achieve both quality and value. The wine delivers exactly what it promises: a genuine yum factor, with mixed berry fruit, vibrant sweet spices, and plump, velvet-textured tannins. There’s a chalky mineral note on the finish, followed by pleasant cocoa powder and slate-like nuances. It over-delivers at the price point—and the story behind it is, frankly, hilarious." - Jonathan Cristaldi (Dec 2025)