Toasted Head - Merlot

Price: $12.99
Region: California
Year: 2003

In my day to day life, and conversations, there are a few people I talk to where the conversations tend to gravitate towards wine. It is not uncommon that we find ourselves making recommendations to each other on recent wines we have enjoyed. This weekend happened to be one of those times where I followed up on a recommendation from a good friend and former colleague. When we worked together, we would almost provide each other with weekly recommendations, but the communications have been a little less frequent as of late. However, with a recent email exchange came the perfect opportunity pick up like old times. So, this one is for you Roland...

This is just ones of those wines that sticks out from a marketing stand point (at least to me). A big old bear on the label, breathing fire, and called Toasted Head. However, these are also wines that I tend to shy away from, for a reason I'm not quite sure about. Anyway, when my friend recommended I give it a try, I thought writing a review was the perfect opportunity. While you might start to see a pattern here with my Friday nights, this past Friday was a relax with a tasty burger from a local hamburger joint kind of night. Just the type of meal I look to pair with a bottle of merlot. Now, since I was in a different part of town then normal, I went to a wine store that is not my usual lower price mega-store, so I probably paid $2 more then I normally would have, but still reasonable.

So, in taking a first look, the color was a little pale compared to some of the recent shiraz and cabernet varieties that I have had, but still appealing. The smell reminded me of something right away, but it wasn't overly pleasant. After trying to place the smell, all I could come up with was the faint smell of rubbing alcohol, but not nearly that pungent. Overall, color and smell were OK, but nothing to write home about. At this point, my expectations were not sky high, but with the first taste, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a rather smooth merlot, and had a nice finish. I wouldn't say outstanding, but pleasant for sure. What I also found is that in my opinion, the second glass was even a little better then the first. There are still some merlots that are a part of my "default" wines that in a pinch I would grab before I grabbed another bottle of Toasted Head, but overall a solid choice. So far, no clunkers in my first few weeks of writing reviews.

Rating: 3.25 corks (Might work for you)