Charles Smith, Merlot Velvet Devil, Walla Walla Valley

Okay, when you go to the store and get entry level wines for quick/easy service do not let them hang in the cellar for too long. This was a mess. Nose was quite boozy at this point with back fruit and some stinky/poopy notes. Palate is bizarre with black fruit, plum and a mouthful of mulch ... really ... eat some bark mulch and it might be more pleasant. Popped this with pizza. Suffered through a glass and dumped. Over …

2012 vintage

Monthly Tasting Group HWS #107; Oregon and Washington (By MO) : Cherry/raspberry yoghurt and bell pepper in the bouquet. On the palate raspberries and other red fruits, lemonade, a lot of sweetness, low acidity and tannin. Juicy, but a commercially made BBQ wine.

2012 vintage

Robe de couleur rubis. Nez avec beaucoup de sucre et sur les fruits murs. En bouche, le vin est rond, pas trop sucré en bouche, arômes de forêt, bonne astringence, manque de complexité.

2012 vintage

Huge, persistent oak and odd candy notes overwhelm the underlying fruit. Mineral flavors, with a primal aftertaste that I have found more often in Southern Rhone blends or Pinotage than in Merlot, by itself not unpleasant but which are on this unbalanced wine. Smooth tannins. This feels to me like a a highly manipulated wine, a better name might be The Velveeta Devil. There are many better wines at this price ($10-$14).

2012 vintage

Not wrecked or ruined. Thin, uninspired, calcium notes.

2012 vintage

cocoa powder on the palate from the gate

2012 vintage

Drinkable, but nothing particularly special.

2012 vintage

Nothing really stands out, good or bad. But it's got a nice bit of berries and is pleasant mid week wine. Maybe a bit boring, but it's only $11.

2012 vintage

Uninspired Washington state Merlot. There are so many superior wines at this price point. Will not buy again.

2012 vintage

On first sniff, pretty nice nose with a lot of raspberry and subtle rustic notes of wet soil and maybe even a touch of tobacco. Meh, all nuance dies off in the palate in a wash of raspberry and unbalanced alcohol. A slight finish reaffirms the fruit and adds a fleeting minerality. Its alright but a little more jarring than velvety.

2012 vintage

The nose at first is bright and fresh, a bit like a white wine, but more empty than fruity; then mostly smells like alcohol. The taste is better than the nose, with a hint of red fruit and then a wee bit of black raspberry. Hardly tastes new world in style to me. Finish is short and weak and then poor. May be good with food. No tannins. $14. Overall value: 2 stars of 5. Low good: (80).

2012 vintage

No frills, but nice ripe fruit without being tuty fruity. Good crowd pleasing party wine or week night guilt free sipper made in a drink now style.

2012 vintage

(Tasted at Vino, Hollywood, Florida). This is not a good wine! This Washington State Merlot has a light purple/crimson color with a relatively austere nose. The wine tastes of dark fruit and some licorice. It is relatively thin with really no finish. I didn't taste the "Velvet".

2012 vintage

No brightness, little fruit.

2012 vintage

Oeil: Rubis Nez: Fumée - Bois Bouche: Cuir - Fruits rouges Sans prétention! Un nez timide et simple. En bouche, très peu de personnalité et de plaisir.

2012 vintage

1 yr in French oak. 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. not much of a note.

2012 vintage

Seymour Wine Club Meeting 6/14/14 (Home of David Zanowiak) : Tasted blind. Showing more on the nose than the previous wine, this had some nice cherry, earth and iron aromas. The palate was open for business with flavors of cherry, mocha, earth and iron. There were some tannins present but nothing overpowering or even in need of aging. 30 minutes in a decanter would do it. A very nice value wine.

2012 vintage

Easy drinking wine. Lots of fruit.

2012 vintage

Good enough. Ripe-ish, hint of leaf, plum, easy-going. Solid but deeply unexciting. Probably just not for me.

2012 vintage

Quite surprised with the other negative tasting notes written. Perhaps consumed at warm room temp which can kill the taste if just about any red wine. Anyway, for $12, I'm shocked at the sheer deliciousness of this Merlot. Don't get me wrong , this is pretty one dimensional with a deliberate vanilla bomb and touches of berry but it's very drinkable and just really quite amazing for $12. I've had many bottles of Charles Smith's premium high end wines for …

2012 vintage

Blackberry and bramble but more on the bitter and undeveloped side - lacking in unctuous delicious fruit or well-balanced oaking. Drinkable but dull, characterless wine. Med acid, med tannin, purple-red color, short green finish. $12, 13.5%.

2012 vintage

Medium acidity initially, smooth and mellow throughout to a short finish, sweet aftertaste. New to wine but I really liked this.

2012 vintage

- Purple color and aromas of blackberry and has flavours of blackberry with a medium body. Leathery texture with a short finish - Easy , very cheap merlot.

2012 vintage

Violet, plum candy on the nose, very fruit forward // similar on the palate, supple, but not overly so, short finish. Good quaffing wine. A nice wine if you need a half cup of red wine for a recipe and want to enjoy drinking the rest.

2012 vintage

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Charles Smith, Merlot Velvet Devil, Walla Walla Valley

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