Bridgman - Merlot

Price: $13.99
Region: Washington
Year: 2007

I think I am drinking more wine than I am able to review these days, which I'm not sure is a good thing, or a bad thing. My guess is a good thing, and we'll leave it at that. I had two wines this past weekend, one on Saturday evening, and the other for Mother's Day. I decided to go with the review of the wine from Saturday since it fits the original intent of this blog, which is wines under $15.00. The wine we had on Mother's Day wasn't that much more expensive, but was in the $30 range. Anyway, I was out running errands on Saturday, and finally had a chance to stop by my favorite wine store and just walk around for a bit. I wasn't in a huge hurry, which is how I like it when I visit this store. Lots to choose from, that's for sure. Since we were having chicken for dinner, I decided going in and search out a Merlot, and I figured at least part of the bottle would be left over for Mother's Day, and since we were having my Mother-in-law over, I decided to look for something that was a bit more than I would spend on a normal weekend (althought not that much).

At the beginning of each aisle, there are some wines that are listed as the "Wine Buyer's Selection". I assume these are wines that various employees at the store list as their favorites. For some reason this bottle of Bridgman Merlot stood out, so I grabbed a bottle and headed for the register. For the first time while checking out, the cashier tried to sell me another bottle that was sitting in the check-out line. In this case it was a bottle of Leaf, which is apparently an Organic blend. I passed this time, but may just grab it the next time through. Anyway, I headed home and was ready for a glass of wine. I was pretty impressed right off of the bat with this wine as it had a very nice light purple color. It definitely looked like a wine with some character. I also thought it had a very pleasant smell, with a bit of a cherry licorice coming to mind. When I took a sip, and then another, I thougth this wine was very well balanced, with nice structure. The taste was a bit like the smell, with a hint of cherry. Overall it had a very nice taste, and wasn't over-priced. There are some comparable wines for a few dollars more, but I would say this is worth a shot.

Rating: 3.25 (Pretty nice wine)