Thursday, July 21, 2011

Merlot Time-Bolla, Havens Napa, Clos Du Bois Sonoma, Glenn Ellen, Lockhart, Artesa

Bargain-basement Merlot, $5.99 750ml is out there, but you knew that; you go to the store every week and grab that bottle of Bare Foot, Turning Leaf, Oak Leaf, Leaf-on the wind or whatever, but I have some comments, and I'll begin with a worthy Merlot at $5.99; can you afford a worthy Bargain-basement Merlot?

Bolla 2008 Merlot, $5.99-$8.99, 86 points, is to me the Merlot, at the price we all want, and I want on my dinner table. Buying this Merlot is like going to the grocery store and buying milk and bread. Bolla 2008 Merlot is about as good a wine, at this price, you'll find.
Did I praise this enough?
Maybe it's the Italian label?
Merlot is not my usual affair, but since my wife mostly drinks Merlot, I can't get away without tasting them.
Light Red color, pleasant aroma, light bodied, having a gentle easy mouth-feel, over-all grapey flavor with great drink-ability, but still a one dimensional wine with just a hint of diesel on the finish.

Havens Napa 2004 Merlot, $19.99 (Are they still making wine?), 90 points, opened to an almost pungent aroma, but settled-down, with some breathing, to a roar of cigar, mint, and grape.
Deep Red color is beautiful.
This is a sleek medium bodied wine with a nicely layered finish.
If I'm correct, and this winery is gone, I think we've all lost something. I think the economy is not as favorable to "Family owned" wineries as it was; I've seen the reports of their selling-out, but just maybe, the best wineries, with lower costs (Family-labor biting the bullet) and demanding higher prices (95-100 points get the big-bucks), will weather these financial storms.

Clos Du Bois, Sonoma Alexander Valley 2006 Merlot, $12.99, 86 points, opens to a hint of clove and soft cinnamon, there is a striking floral character along with alcohol (14.5%), and both carry-over to the palate in excess. There is a bit of bitterness, but not offensively so. I did like this plum and licorice light bodied wine having a fair finish. However, with all the competition, the price hurts this wine.



Glen Ellen 2008 Proprietor's Reserve 2008 Merlot, $3.99-$5.99, 82 points, began with disappointment after the good quality of their Chardonnay. I think this is another one of those Merlots that gave Merlot a bad name.
The color is young with bright purple-red hues.
The aroma devolved from grapey to a muted vegetative character.
This is a thin wine with little to commend it, except for a fair, mild, spicy finish.

Lockhart 2007 Merlot, $9.90, 88 points, is Dark-Ruby-Red. The gentle Black-cherry aroma is very nice. This wine has a medium body, a bit floral and sweet, but the plum and licorice give this some richness, and the silky smooth finish makes this a good wine with a high QPR.

Artesa 2005 Merlot, $14.99-$19.99, 87 points, is dark purple, with a strong floral aroma with hints of clove, all of which carries-over to the palate with some espresso syrup and smokiness. This is the first Merlot I would call "chewy". The medium body is  dense and awkwardly complex, and the finish has quite a bit of heat on it.



Index-of-reviewed-wines

Copyright 2011 Dennis Tsiorbas. All rights reserved, Template provided by Blogger



4 comments:

  1. Thanks for your comment on my blog! You may have helped inspire me to start writing again, we'll see...

    Havens...oh, how I miss you. The answer is NO, they are no longer making wine. Michael Havens sold the winery to Billington several years ago, & then they went out of business. I know this because a friend used to work for Billington. I miss the Black & Blue, the Merlot, the everything else.

    Imagine my delight when I received an email from a local wine store that said they had 2007 Havens Merlot for $11....it was Cameron Hughes Lot 169. Maybe you'll get lucky & CH still has it in stock. We were thrilled & bought several bottles. My husband wanted to drink them all within weeks, much to my dismay...& then I forgot about it. Perhaps I'll call to see if they have more tomorrow.

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  2. Claire Uncorked, your writing is so good that your viewers still stick with you after all this time; it would be like Havens winery: our loss. I recently read, in a BIG-TIME blog, that most wine blogs are but journals, and that may or may not be true, but without any qualitative judgments being made, when you said this: "While that's very true, I really just needed a title, & my peanut butter & jelly sandwich inspired me. I'd forgotten how much I love those! The idea of journal popped into my mind, but more than that, I was just thinking how much I missed the provincial and lowly PB&J with a big glass of Cooolld milk. Well, any ideas on what wine will pair with that? Dry Riesling or maybe a creamy Chardonnay?
    Anyway, good to hear from you and I hope you are inspired.
    Sincerely,
    Dennis

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  3. I did a foray into PB&J, and what I found, though I did make three of them (Damson plum, black cherry, and apricot & pineapple), was my Zin was just okay, but the Chardonnay was quite good; just in case anyone is interested. Oh, cold milk was still the winner!

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  4. WOW. Kudos to you for attempting that one. It's actually never occurred to me to mess with the classic PB&J/milk combo.

    Oh, & I wrote something. Nothing earth-shattering. Maybe that will come later...

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