Whitehall Lane Vineyards Merlot 2005
Blackberry, violets, and plums - oh MY?! No, not so much. Think pungent, mold veins of blue cheese on the nose, deep red fruits (rotten apple peel it seems… or am I crazier than usual? probably) on the palate, and a brambled, brown finish… I love every bit of it.
This wine is so much better than I expected… and I expected a LOT from a bottle of USA red priced well over $20 even and I say EVEN at Trader Joe’s wine shop.
It is not an easy wine. It is a good wine. It is not a smooth wine. It is a frenetic wine. It is not a complex wine… but it is an interesting wine.
Of course maybe it was just my bottle that seemed to have been dunked in cooked, blue cheese, but probably not since it was a screw top. Let’s score this:
$24.99 at T.B. Ackerson 8.1/10