Pennywise - Merlot

Price: $12
Region: Napa
Year: 2009

As is usually the case, I have a nice little backlog of wines to review. This is my attempt to get through a few of them by writing more then one every other week. I think two a week would be a good clip and get me caught up relatively soon. On another note, someone (not to be named) keeps telling me I use the word "nice" way too much in my reviews. Therefore, I'm banning the word until further notice. This particular bottle of wine was sitting on the counter one Friday night when I returned from work with a bags of hamburgers and fries from 5 Guys. There was actually a couple of other bottles to choose from that night, but this just seem to be the best fit.

At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary about this wine. It wasn't overly rich or dark in color, but was kind of middle of the road. I would say a typical looking merlot. I will say as I gave the glass a swirl, and held it up for a sniff, it was a little bit light for my liking. It was OK, and definitely not bad, but again, nothing special. After a couple of bites of my burger, I took a sip, and found the wine had pretty good balance, and a generally pleasant upfront taste, but just lacked something when it came to the finish. Overall it was not a bad wine, but ended up being a little tart on the back of the tongue. Given it wasn't and "under $10" bottle of wine, although I would assume some could find it at a better price then I did, I would just have to say there are better values out there. (and I don't think I used the word nice)

Rating: 2.75 corks (Doesn't stand out)