Robert Mondavi, Private Selection Meritage, California

Dark ruby, inky highlights. Cough syrup, kid’s grape juice, stewed blueberry nose. Linear/single red fruit dusted in bitter chocolate. Seems like airline wine. Was in a gift basket I found laying around the house after Christmas and thought why not?

Floral notes, a little dark berries, with a hue of spices a chocolate. Still a lot of acidity with a small bouquet.

Quaffable. A tad too thin for my liking. The fruit is not overpowering but there is lack of contrasting complexity to balance out the wine. The oak is fairly well integrated. Smooth finish but short.

This is actually pretty decent Merlot. To my palate it is kind of European in style. There is a little bit of spicy, green bell pepper earthiness with a graphite, flinty flavor. Not very fruit forward. Lots of non fruit flavors across the profile. Considerable acid, even though we decanted and waited about an hour, this value 2012 Merlot is acting like it wants to be cellared a couple of years. Without flashy fruit, and a somewhat disappointing mid palate, …