2005 Erasmo Vina La Reserva de Caliboro

Estate grown and bottled in the Maule Valley Region of Chile (The Maule Valley is near the epicenter of the recent earthquake). A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot, this is the classic blend of the French Bordeaux grapes, but grown in Chile, under the direction of Francesco Marone Cinzano, a top Italian producer. Aged 18 months in French Oak barriques (barrels to you and me), the Erasmo has aging potential and should continue to improve for several years. The grapevines  were imported to Chile from France especially for this project.

The color is black cherry with a light red halo. Loads of spice on the nose, dark ripe fruit, dusty autumn leaves and whiffs of oak. A light mouth feel, but big on flavor. The first taste to hit your tongue is ripe blackberries, blueberries and silky french vanilla, and then you feel/sense the tannins at the back of your mouth. A huge, long lasting finish of cherries, tea and butterscotch. Still a young wine, with a nice firm structure. This is a wine that you want to buy several bottles of, drink one now, another in a couple of years, and another in a few more years. The tannins will soften and the level of flavors will become more complex with the passage of time. The Erasmo has a classy sophisticated flavor now and will pair well with steaks and chops.

Wine Courtesy of Palm Bay Imports

2006 Carhartt Vineyards “Chase The Blues Away” Rosé – $10

A small production Rosé (250 cases), Estate Produced and Bottled in the Santa Ynez Valley all for ten bucks. Carhartt Vineyards is a 10 acre family owned Estate on a mesa in the Santa Ynez Valley (Santa Barbara, California). The Rosé is a blend of Syrah and Merlot and the wine is aged six months in neutral French oak. To simplify things, a rosé is red wine grapes turned into wine using white wine methods. The grape skins are left in the vats for a short period of time at the beginning of fermentation. The wine gets a bit of color, but not much in the way of tannins.

The color is a very clear peachy, orangey red. The nose is bright fresh fruit, strawberry shortcake, I even think I detected a bit of whipped cream and raspberries. The flavor is smooth, crisp and light fresh, creamy red fruit. Not too sweet, very refreshing. The alcohol content is 13.6%, but it tastes much lighter.

It is winter in Chicago, but the “Chase the Blues Away” Rosé has me thinking of warm weather. A very nice choice for a lazy summer evening, this is a bottle that goes down nice and easy.

A small production wine, but you can find it at Lush http://tiny.cc/Qepbb

2006 Domain Menada Tcherga – $10

This is a first for me, a wine from the Thracian Valley Region of Bulgaria. A red blend of 70%Merlot and 30% Rubin (a cross of Syrah and Nebbiolo). The name Tcherga refers to the folk craft rugs made in that region (check out the label to see what those rugs look like). The wine is aged for 8 months in French and Bulgarian oak.

The color is crystal clear see thru burgundy red. The nose is strawberries, blueberry and spice. Nice mouth feel. The flavor is very bright fresh fruit, gobs of vanilla, very light tannins, the oak is lightly evident in the back of your mouth.The finish fades a bit too soon, but is a very nice combination of chocolate and vanilla. A very tasty wine.

I was expecting Bulgarian wine to be too sweet and too simple, but  I was wrong. This is a good tasting new world style wine. Put Bulgaria on the wine world map, the Tcherga is a well made wine.

2001 Arboleda Merlot – $15

Talk about an end of the bin special, this is a Chilean Merlot from the Colchagua Valley that has nine years of bottle age. Now most wines in the under $20 category are not made to be cellared for too long, but then again almost all red wines could benefit from a couple of years of age, so how much is too much? This particular Merlot is a joint venture between Robert Mondavi and Vina Caliterra of Chile, it has a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon added along with a splash of Carmenere to give the Merlot some body and structure. It has been aged in oak barrels, so there is a good chance this wine is still improving, rather than on the way down. The color is a glistening see thru burgundy. The nose is elegant, spice drops, dark stewed fruit, beef gravy and a dusty flower garden scent. The mouth feel is light upfront with tannins grabbing at the back of your mouth. Not much fruit is evident, I had the bottle open for three hours before I tasted it and I am using my Taste of Purple glass that helps bring air into the wine, so the wine shouldn’t be “tight”. The vanilla from the oak is there, but it is not over powering. There are is prune or fig flavors, but the main component is the vanilla from the oak. I can’t come to any conclusions about cellaring wine because 1) I don’t know under what conditions this was stored and 2) I don’t know what it tasted like when it was young. But, it is an out of balance wine, still drinkable but not all that enjoyable.

2005 Lapis Luna Merlot – $9

Lapis Luna loosely translated means “blue moon”.  What is a blue moon?  A blue moon is when two full moon’s occur in the same month.  There are 41 blue moon’s each century.  The next blue moon will occur in December on the 2nd and the 29th.

Alright, enough of the astronomy lesson and on to the wine!

Once in a blue moon (pun intended), I get to taste a Merlot that is under $10 that is delicious.  Lapis Luna Merlot is just that.  It starts with a nose of black currant.  On the palate you get black cherry and pine (yes, pine).  It’s like Christmas in your mouth!  It has a wonderful cherry, strawberry and pine finish that lasts for 20 seconds.  It’s amazing for $8.99.  Buy this one by the case, it’s a rare find!  I tasted it twice because I couldn’t believe it either.  Let it breath for 30 minutes and drink it with lamb, salmon, pizza or pasta.

2006 Craggy Range Te Kahu

A Bordeaux blend, Merlot 58%, Cabernet Sauvignon 22%, Cabernet Franc 15% and Malbec 5%, from Craggy Range Vineyards, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. All the grapes were sourced from a single vineyard (Gimblett Gravels Vineyard).

I picked up this wine for $14.99, but on checking prices on the web I saw the Te Kahu going for as much $30. This wine would have benefitted from decanting, the nose was a little tight, though I did get dark fruit with a hint of barnyard . The color is a dark ruby red, very pretty. It tasted of intense dark berries, the tannins were kept in check and while it was aged 16 months in oak,the oak was nicely balanced. This is a wine that would improve with cellaring and with it’s elegant structure, could be put down for a decade or so. Not your typical cheapwinefinder wine.

Not a pop the top and drink it down wine. But if you have the will power to lay this wine down for a few years, you will be rewarded with an excellent wine at a very nice price.

Columbia Crest Merlot 2005

Do you miss Christmas? Doesn’t this bottle look like a Christmas tree wine bottle? I’m trying to do better about taking pictures before all the wine is gone but I obviously failed to do so this time.

I’m not usually a big fan of Merlot but this wine was very enjoyable. For those Merlot fans out there, maybe I just need to spend more time looking for good Merlot, who knows. This one makes me have hope. The Columbia Crest Merlot was very well balanced with cherry and herbal notes. The fruit flavors were very ripe. I also picked up a little bit of spice on the nose and the taste.

Price: $12
Vintage: 2005
Varietal: Merlot
Country: USA – WA
Cheap Wine Rating: 90

Buy it here: Wine.com

Summerfield Merlot 2006

If I had only three words to sum up this wine I’d say Easy, light, strawberry.  And really there isn’t much else to this wine.  Its nice and easy to drink and there isn’t anything in it that stands out as being something I don’t like.  Just having a wine with no negatives is a pretty good thing. Its rare that when good qualities are absent there are not bad qualities in the wine that make it undrinkable.
If you are looking for a nice regular light wine with a hint of strawberry then this might be for you.  Don’t expect to be super excited by this wine though.  Really you never should expect to much from a $6 wine though, right?

Price:  $6
Vintage: 2006
Varietal: Merlot
Cheap Wine Rating: 85

Buy it here:  At your local grocery store or wine store – or online at: Winerz.com

Tin Roof Merlot 2005

Finally a great merlot for under $10.  I was very surprised by the quality if the Tin Roof Merlot. I bought this wine at costco just because of the price and rating by the Read more