Blackstone - Merlot

Price: $9.99
Region: California
Year: 2007

I know it has been nearly 9 months since I decided to post my top 5 "default" wines, but I am finally reviewing #5 on the list. The real story is that each week I was looking forward to trying something new to review, and just never picked up a bottle. This past weekend, I just needed a bottle for Sunday dinner with my mother and father-in-law, and didn't have much time to browse. My wife was making a chick and sweet potato stew, and a Merlot seemed to be in order. I have tried this wine many times before, but never had taken the time to write down any tasting notes until now.

Obviously with a fairly mainstream wine like this Merlot, especially one I have had on many occasions, I was going in with some preconceived notions already in place. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to finishing off my default wine list. I sat down with a simple appetizer, and poured myself a glass. The wine had a good dark red color, with good clarity. Nothing to be wowed by, but sufficient. Along the same lines, after giving the glass a short swirl, the smell was very pleasant, but predictable. This could very well be my familiarity with the wine talking, but it was what I expected. So, it came as no surprise that when I took my first sip, I found the wine to be fairly smooth, with pretty good length, and a nice overall taste and finish. Now that I think about it, one of the reasons this was always one of my default Merlots, if I didn't know what to buy, was because it was consistent. I knew I wasn't getting a knock your socks off kind of wine, but each and every time it was a solid choice, and sometimes that's all you need.

Rating: 3.25 (Consistently Solid)