Santa Rita 120 Merlot 2006 is a big, bold red, almost un-Merlot-like in its boldness and complexity. Its nose is pleasant but ordinary, with ripe raspberry and vanilla notes. On the palate, this Merlot starts off with the slightly sweet, rounded fruitiness of cherries and plums. As it lingers on the palate, the flavors intensify, with oak and balanced tannings coming to the fore. This flavor accelleration isn’t all that common, and it was nice to find in this Chilean Merlot. The alcohol content of this wine is shown as 14.1% on the label and 14.5% on the winery’s website - either is high for a Merlot, a fact which may explain part of the wine’s robust flavor.

The Santa Rita winery “was founded in 1880, by a distinguished entrepreneur of those times, Mr. Domingo Fernández Concha in the area of Alto Jahuel.” The 120 series, which the website lauds for its “freshness… youthness [sic]… consistency,” is named for 120 Chilean patriots, led by the improbably-named General O’Higgins, sought refuge in the cellars of Santa Rita as they fought for independence from Spain. It’s a good thing the cellars weren’t stocked with this Merlot - Chile’s independence might have been stalled for years!

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In a typical supermarket or wine shop, the customer is presented with a staggering array of wines. Boxed wines in particular may be a challenge, since many consumers associate the concept with ultra-cheap product from brands like Franzia. Killer Juice does several things to stand out beyond the wine’s attractive black packaging.

Their first step is far from unique - they put a big gold emblem on the box to promote the Cab’s winning a gold medal at the 2007 Critics Challenge International Wine Competition. Other wineries do that, but most don’t. Particularly for a boxed wine, a prestigious-looking award is a vote of confidence that could turn an uncertain wine shopper into a buyer.

The second thing Killer Juice does is even more clever. Many wine shoppers may have difficulty assessing the value of a box of wine. For one, boxes are deceptively compact - a three-liter box doesn’t look like it holds the same amount of wine as four 750ml bottles, even though it does. Many box wine makers print the equivalent number of bottles, or even use little bottle pictures to illustrate the capacity of the box. Killer Juice goes a step farther, and prints “Contains 4 Bottles of Killer $10 Wine” on three sides of the box.

This message communicates more than quantity. It says something about quality to the consumer - a $10 bottle value suggests wine that is better than plonk, and might actually be pretty good. In one fell swoop, Killer Juice establishes an equivalent bottle value, and highlights the big savings their package offers.

Will these small enhancements make Killer Juice boxed red wines fly off the shelves? Probably not. But they will help, and as the glassy-eyed wine buyers stares at the shelf laden with boxwines, they could tip the balance.

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Tin Roof Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 starts with an attractive contemporary label design, which notes that “making wines at Tin Roof is a blast - especially when it’s raining!” The closure is a silver and black artificial cork. It has a pleasant aroma of leather, licorice, and spice. The flavor is equally pleasant, with cherry and blackberry fruit, and a long oaky finish. We found this Cab to be very accessible and easy to enjoy alone or with food.

The Tin Roof website isn’t overly elaborate, but it’s nicely designed and has good descriptions of each wine. There’s even a store locator that (for once) worked and produced some accurate local listings.

This Cabernet has been tasted by several bloggers. From Reason to Freedom gave it a B-, suggesting that it might be “better suited for dinner than perhaps drinking on its own.” In contrast, Daily Wine Tasting scored it 91 points, calling it a “delicous, gentle, easy sipper.” Three Sweet Ounces called it “very tasty and quite drinkable.”

Wine Enthusiast scored Tin Roof Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 at 86 points, describing it as “A nice glass of Cab… It’s bone dry, with a scour of sandpapery tannins, and hints of cherries, blackberries, plums, cola and cedar. Shows real class…” We might not have described it as “bone dry,” but we heartily endorse the “nice glass of Cab” part.

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It’s been two years since we tried Killer Juice Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2006 vintage of this boxed Cab is a more than worthy successor. The nose was mild, with ripe berry and woody notes. This Cab had a big, rounded cherry flavor with oak and black pepper in the finish. Crisp tannins contributed to a nice balance overall.

At the 2008 Twin Cities Food and Wine Experience, Killer Juice Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 took the “Best Value Cabernet Sauvignon” award. That may be a bigger accomplishment that it might seem to be at first glance - the other varietal winners of value awards were all bottled wines. I’m sure the Killer Juice makers were very pleased by this result.

This wine hasn’t received a lot of blog attention, but How I Eat gave it high marks for everyday drinkability. The Wineauxs declared the 2005 vintage “simple and inoffensive - great for burgers and pizza.” We go along with these reviews - if you are looking for a very drinkable boxed red wine that you can put on your counter and enjoy every day, Killer Juice Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 is a fine choice.

(Our previous tasting: Killer Juice Cabernet Sauvignon 2003.)

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Toad Hollow Cellars seems to have our number dialed in. We really liked their Erik’s the Red, and Toad Hollow Cacophony Zinfandel 2006 is at least as pleasing. This Zin starts with black cherry and plum notes, and after this fruity introduction, the flavor explodes with more fruit, spice, and soft tannins. This is the kind of Zin we like - big and bold, with a playful attitude.

I paired this with grilled tenderloins, which proved to be a perfect combination.

According to the Toad Hollow website, “Our fifth release of the Toad Hollow Cacophony Zinfandel is a Paso Robles appellation where the long hot days and chilly nights are just what zinfandel vines thrive upon. The new offering is 92% zinfandel with a smattering of other fun Paso Robles area varietals folded in for additional character, and dare I say, excitement!”

Toad Hollow has a number of other reds, including a Merlot and two Pinot Noirs from the Russian River Valley. Based on my experience with Erik’s “proprietary red” and their Cacophony Zinfandel, I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do with these traditionally lighter reds.

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Winking Owl Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage offering aimed at the market niche popularized by Two Buck Chuck from Charles Shaw Wines. Unfortunately, it matches the price but misses the mark on quality. The bottle of Winking Owl Cab I tried was thin in color and flavor; in general, it was one big earthy off-note, and most of it went down the drain.

I’m hoping that I just got a bad bottle - others have reported more success with this inexpensive brand. The Drank Tank says, “And if there is one thing we are missing in the USA that they do have in Europe, it’s CHEAP wine that doesn’t make you ralph. Thank you Aldi for this piece of Europe. WINKING OWL is absolutely the best value wine I’ve ever had.” Perhaps Winking Owl can use “Doesn’t Make You Ralph” as their new tag line. Crumbs to mark the path comments, “super great value red… excellent & smooth…maybe new favorite.” I saw some favorable forum postings, too. I like inexpensive reds as much as the next blogger, and I find it hard to reconcile the plonk I tasted with what everyone else seems to be saying about this Cab. I guess for $3, I can afford to try another bottle.

I did find one review that was closer to my own assessment, posted by Kathleen Purvis of McClatchy Newspapers:

Awful aroma, nasty flavor. “I’d say it’s corked, but it had a plastic cork.”

Winking Owl Vineyards seems to be an exclusive brand of the Aldi supermarket chain, which seems to be trying to stage a small-scale emulation of Trader Joe’s with their inexpensive house brand wines. If you are looking for an ultra-low priced wine, we’d suggest Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon as a somewhat better alternative.

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Concannon Central Coast Merlot 2006 starts with a big licorice nose, and its flavor features raspberry, strawberry, and a bit of tart cherry. It’s not an overly complex Merlot, but it’s eminently drinkable. Concannon wines tend to hit our “sweet spot,” so to speak - big and fruity - and this one comes pretty close. The last vintage we tasted of this wine was Concannon Central Coast Merlot 2003, and it was a very nice wine too.

The Concannon website doesn’t have cute animals, flash games, or other fussy stuff. Nevertheless, you’ll find a good description of their full lineup of wines. The wine hasn’t drawn much blog attention, but we found a few mentions. The Wine Cask Blog tried the 2004 vintage and liked it a log, posting that the wine “is a nice value even at twice the price…really quite tasty and easily quaffable.”

We hope to be reporting on some more Concannon juicy red wines soon - this one was a nice treat.

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Night Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 is our kind of wine. Its ripe berry nose is tinged with smoky oak. On the palate, it’s ripe and fruity, with strong cherry and plum notes. The finish is long and spicy with nicely balanced tannins. This is a very pleasant and drinkable wine.

According to the Night Harvest Website, they really do harvest the grapes at night: “Today, night harvesting remains a magical time for our winemaking team and the linchpin of our winemaking process, as we continue to harvest all our estate fruit under the stars during the cool hours between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.”

A few bloggers have tried this wine and liked it. The Hedonist notes, “this wine is a keeper… the best-value red wine that Lord Bacchus has tasted in some time.” The Liquid Grape raves, “For under $10, you will have a hard time finding another Cab Sauv as well balanced as this one.” Psydr Short and to the Point Wine Reviews gave the Night Harvest Cab four out of five stars and commented, “A darn good wine for the money. Very smooth with a hint of berry.”

If your tastes lean toward fruity, well-balanced reds, give Night Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon a try.

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Charles de Monteney Bordeaux 2005 is 100% Merlot, and is found only at Aldi stores. It has an interesting nose of licorice, woody cedar, and raspberry. This is a lighter-bodied Merlot, with berry flavors that are rather lost in its puckery dryness and strong tannins. This is definitely a European-style wine, not as fruity or accessible as a typical California or Australian Merlot.

We couldn’t learn too much about the maker - the Charles de Monteney website is quite minimal. The parent company site, Benoit Valerie Calvet, has a slightly more elaborate site describing their Bordeaux wines. One claim on the site is that the firm holds costs down by subcontracting what it can.

Overall, this wine is very inexpensive but doesn’t really do much for us. If your taste leans toward dry reds with a bite, maybe it will work better for you.

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Boho Central Coast Merlot 2006 may well be the nicest boxed Merlot we’ve tried. It has blackberry, clove, and leather aromas. On the palate, it offers juicy cherries and chocolate notes, leading into a long oaky finish with chewy tannins.

Boho seems to be a young brand with an environmentally conscious personality. The packaging is a natural brown cardboard box, and there are a host of slogans proclaiming the winery’s green orientation: “Protect The Wine, Protect The World;” “Better Wine - Better Value - Better Environment;” “Respect for the Earth - Passion for Handcrafted Wines - Value for Money.” Some might say this is sloganeering overkill, but this Merlot speaks for itself. I think that the packaging may appear a bit downscale to some buyers, but most who take a minute to study the box will no doubt get what Boho is trying to say.

We think Boho Central Coast Merlot 2006 is an example of what boxed wines can deliver - it’s juicy and flavorful, finishes well, and offers convenient packaging and a fine value. Now, if they could only get rid of the twist spigot… like most of these closures, it will release a drop or two shortly after pouring. Don’t let that discourage you from giving this Merlot a try.

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