Good wine under $20 | March 2009

Good Wine Under $20

WBW #55: Merlots North and South

The 2005 Northwest Cellars Merlot was an excellent QPR bottling blended from 75% Merlot, 13% Syrah, and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. (suggested retail, $15) Slow to open, the wine developed to reveal plum and cassis aromas with a bright raspberry note. The flavors underwent a metamorphosis from a simple taste of fresh plums to something darker and more complex, with plums, graphite, and smoke. There was some green stemminess as well–which I always like in Merlot–and the rich aftertaste was luscious with milk chocolate notes. This was an undeniably complex and elegant wine, and would be enough to convince any Merlot skeptic still having horrible flashbacks from the 90s that the grape is worth a second try.