A ten-dollar wine masquerading as a three-dollar wine.
Written: Jun 14 '08 (Updated Jun 14 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lush fruit, dash of oak, supple tannins, food-friendly.
Cons: At this price point--or at $10--there are none.
The Bottom Line: This is one of but a handful of well-structured reds I've had for under $7, a steal at $2.99 and not bad even for its non-discounted price.
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| bkalafut's Full Review: Echelon Merlot 2003 750ml |
The shelf at Trader Joe's, where this wine currently sells for $2.99, had a bit more to say about it than is usual for an under-$5 wine; when was the last time the Charles Shaw generic wine was said to have "flavors of ripe cherries and cocoa"? Curious, I took home a bottle along with my dozen eggs and week's worth of packeted lunches.
I've said in the past that most cheap Merlot is misguided, but this wine was a pleasant surprise. A bit of searching around the Internet clarified it a bit; the 2003 vintage of Echelon Merlot retails everywhere else for $10; Trader Joe's must be liquidating surplus old stock to make room for 2004.
Echelon Merlot 2003 is everything the label and store promotional material would have it be and then some: a medium-bodied, garnet-colored red with a smooth mouthfeel, supple tannins, lush but not palate-coating cherry fruit, an herbal undertone, some smokiness that I could see being interpreted as "cocoa", and a judicious amount of oak. Very tasty with a stew of lentils and sausage, this could just as easily go with seared steak, roast pork, or any barbecue without a sweet sauce.
Perhaps it should be said that I (unintentionally) left this wine in a car for one full June day in Arizona. If you don't experience this wine as being as pleasant as I found it, try decanting.
Echelon Merlot 2003 is a steal at $2.99 and not bad for $10. Suspecting that, like Nerello Bastardo before it, this will fly off of the Trader Joe's shelves once word gets out, I'll have my eye out for the next vintage. Since this is assembled from fruit from three different Central Coast areas, I suspect that it's a dependable product that just hasn't reached Fetzer's or Columbia Crest's level of brand recognition.
Recommended:
Yes
Winery Name: Echelon
Varietal: Merlot
Country: USA
State or Region: California
County or Appellation: Central Coast
Price: 2.99
Wine Rating Scale: Better than most
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Epinions.com ID:
bkalafut
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 in Restaurants & Gourmet |
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Member: Bennett Kalafut
Location: Tucson, AZ, USA
Reviews written: 254
Trusted by: 42 members
About Me:
Stretching single molecules for fun and profit.
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