Box Wines
A wine blog with news and reviews of affordable wines

Price: $17
Maker: Souverain, Napa Valley, California
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.9%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Souverain Alexander Valley Merlot 2005 is a very pleasant red. It has a spicy berry aroma, with black cherry, plum, and chocolate notes on the palate. The finish has spice and oak with mild tannins. We liked the balance of this wine, and are looking forward to sampling some of their other wines.

Souverain has an interesting history:

The history of Souverain began in the Napa Valley in 1944 when J. Leland “Lee” Stewart harvested his first crop of wine grapes from his Howell Mountain property in the northern part of the valley. At the suggestion of his young daughter, Stewart named his winery “Souverain” (taken from the French word for “sovereign” or “supreme”), and his Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings from the 1960s were considered by many to be just that.

In the years that followed, Stewart used innovation and a natural gift for winemaking to establish Souverain as one of the great California wineries. The winery moved to the Alexander Valley when Stewart eventually sold it in 1973.

Price: $5
Maker: Viña San Pedro S. A., Molina, Chile
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Gato Negro Merlot 2007 was an inexpensive find at a megastore wine shop. Its label reminded me of some of the great Trader Joe bargains I’d tried last year, but the wine itself didn’t quite measure up. It had an odd aroma that had woody licorice notes overpowering weak berry notes. The flavor was also a bit odd, with plum, herb, and chocolate notes. If this wine has a redeeming feature, it’s the long finish that brings out some spice, more pleasant berry notes, and robust tannins. Gato Negro Merlot wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but was lacking in typical Merlot characteristics.

We did find that this wine was helped by extensive breathing when half a bottle was accidentally left uncorked overnight. I was expecting the worst when I next tasted it, but the wine had actually improved a bit.

Viña San Pedro is a significant player:

Founded in 1865 by the Correa Albano brothers, Viña San Pedro is today the second largest Chilean wine exporter and the country’s third biggest winery. The winery and is located in Curicó Valley, where San Pedro owns one of the largest continuous area of vineyards in South America, with 1,200 hectares. In total San Pedro has over 2,500 hectares planted all along the Central Valley. Since 1990 the company has long term contracts and has been acquiring vineyards in Chile’s other main viticulture valleys, such as Leyda, Colchagua, Maipo, San Antonio, Casablanca, Elqui and Limarí. Today these vineyards provide perfect conditions for several varieties.

VSP is present in almost 80 markets on all five continents with its brands Cabo de Hornos, 1865, Castillo de Molina, 35°South, and GatoNegro. This wide brand portfolio allows it to target a great variety of consumers throughout the world.

Gato Negro Merlot won’t make our favorites list, but we look forward to tasting some other products from this Chilean winery.

Price: $25
Maker: Estancia Winery, Soledad, California
Variety: Meritage - blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (61%), Merlot (30%), Petit Verdot (9%)
Packaging: 750 ml Bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 14.5%
Our Rating: 9 out of 10

Estancia Paso Robles Meritage 2004 is an interesting and tasty wine. First, a bit about the label. “Meritage” isn’t a varietal. Rather, it’ a controlled designation originally intended as California’s answer to Bordeaux. Meritage is actually a trademark that can be used only by members of the Meritage Association and put only on wines meeting specific criteria. The wine must be a blend of at least two grapes from a list that includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and others. In addition, the association expects that wineries will use the label only on their finest blend, and will limit the production of that blend.

Our impression of the Estancia Meritage is that the winery has indeed followed the guidance of the Meritage Association and used the label on a blend they consider superior. This is a big wine that seems almost like a Zin with its powerful nose, big flavor, and relatively high alcohol content. This wine’s aroma is full of cherries, spice, and oak. On the palate, it starts with more cherries, blackberries, and a hint of mocha, leading into a lengthy finish that’s a balance of tannins, oak, and mild pepper. This is exactly the kind of red wine that we’re partial to, and pouring the last glass from the bottle was a sad moment. Pair this with beef or other strongly flavored entrees that need a red wine that can hold its own.

Hunting around wine blogs for commentary, we found that The Wino Club awarded Estancia Paso Robles Meritage 2004 a “double gold” when they tasted nine different Meritages.

Overall, this Meritage is a red wine worth trying. Our bottle came as a gift at our annual Christmas party - a thoughtful gift indeed!

Price: $8
Maker: Bogle Vineyards, Graton, California
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Bogle Merlot 2004 offers more evidence that Bogle Vineyards knows how to make wines that are tasty but inexpensive. This Merlot has a pleasant aroma of berries, oak, and a hint of butterscotch. On the palate, it is smooth and well balanced, starting with cherry and blackberry notes, leading into an oaky finish with nippy tannins. All in all, Bogle Merlot 2004 is a very nice value at a sub-$10 price tag.

Earlier this year, we tasted Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel 2004 and liked it a lot, too. We gave that wine a rare (for us) 9 rating, not bad for a $10 wine. Actually, we’d consider the 2004 Merlot to be on the high side of our 8.5 rating.

We can’t praise the Bogle website quite as much - it features broken images and links that go nowhere.

If you can still find the 2004 Bogle Merlot on your wine shop shelf, by all means grab a bottle and see if you agree.

Price: $9
Maker: Robert Mondavi, Woodbridge, California
Varietal: Blend - 68% Cabernet Sauvginon, 14% Merlot, 11% Petit Verdot, 5% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Robert Mondavi Private Selection Vinetta 2005 starts with a powerful licorice and berry nose. The flavor of this wine was rounded, fruity, and well-balanced, with cherries and a bit of cocoa leading into a finish that was long, a bit oaky, and slightly acidic. This was a very nice red wine that is supposed to be Bordeaux-style but is probably a bit fruitier than the real appelation. That’s OK with us, as we tend to prefer fruitier wines vs. those that are more mineral in character.

According to the Robert Mondavi Private Selection website, “The wines of Robert Mondavi Private Selection embrace the best characteristics of their distinctive vineyards on California’s coast, where cool fog and ocean breezes create a long growing season that results in grapes of intense flavor concentration.” Sounds fine to us, and it’s borne out at least in part by the pleasant character of this wine.

Price: $2
Maker: Vendange Wine Cellars, Lathrop, California
Variety: Merlot
Packaging: 175 ml bottle, screw cap closure
Alcohol Content: 13.0%
Our Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Vendange seems to be doing more with creative packaging than just about any other winery - the Vendange Merlot 2005 we tried came in a small 175ml bottle, and they also offer standard 750ml and 1.5l bottles plus their fairly unique 500ml Tetra Paks. This wine is a bit less creative. The nose was a bit weak, with spice, leather, and licorice notes. The flavor was plummy and earthy, with an oak finish. Were it not for the earthiness, which we associate with some of the cheapest boxed plonk, we would have liked this wine more. We rated Vendange Merlot 2004 (that one from a Tetra Pak) as better than this one - we found the two to be quite different.

One issue with wines in tiny bottles intended for single servings is that they are unlikely to get much breathing time. We’ve found young, cheap reds often benefit from some extra air. We didn’t experiment with this particular wine, but we may try that in the future.

In short, this wine is drinkable, but is far from our favorite cheap Merlot. If you don’t have to have the 175ml packaging, consider Bohemian Highway Merlot or Forest Glen Merlot. Both of these can be found for $5 - $8 per 750ml bottle, and are a lot more fun. If you can step up all the way to $10 or so, try Concannon Central Coast Merlot.

Price: $10
Maker: Spinner Winery, Napa, California
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 14.2%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Spinner Red 2002 Merlot was the most costly (if you can use that word for a $10 bottle of wine) from our Trader Joe’s visit, and as such it was a bit of a disappointment. Not that it was entirely bad… particularly after overnight storage mellowed it a bit. It had a bold nose with cherries, smoke, and a bit of clove and vanilla. The flavors were more cherries and oak, with a fairly astringent, acidic finish. Served this wine at a party, I wouldn’t complain. But after such a great run of luck with $4 - $7 wines from Trader Joe’s, this Merlot came up a bit of a disappointment.

Quaffability had worse things to say about the 2001 Spinner Red Merlot, finding it “waaaay too ripe and too waaaay woody” and ultimately deciding that, “the piss-poor quality of this wine is outrageous.” The 2002 didn’t provoke quite the same sentiment in us, but we suspect that Quaffability, like us, was disappointed by comparing this wine to other cheaper and better TJ offerings.

Spinner Red 2002 Merlot is another Trader Joe’s mystery wine - there’s no trace of the supposed “Spinner Winery” on the Web. We presume this is some kind of private label deal worked between TJ and some third party, and that you won’t find this wine elsewhere. Not a great loss, perhaps.

Price: $9
Maker: Juno Wine Company, Paarl, South Africa
Varietal: Cabernet, Shiraz, Merlot blend
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Juno Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2005 features another of Juno’s gorgeous labels - the call these wines their “Cape Maidens” series. The wine itself is what one might expect from a blend of these grapes. The composition is Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), Shiraz (30%), and Merlot (20%). This blend has a ripe berry nose, a medium body, and a nicely rounded blackberry and plum flavor with a bit of spice in the finish. We like this wine both for its attractive package and its accessible flavor. It would be nice for entertaining or a $10-range hostess gift.

The Cape Maiden illustrations are the work of artist Tertia du Toit. According to the Juno Wine website,

She paints a picture of the atmosphere of the wine, the taste and the aroma. The girls are part of exhibitions, a collection of paintings that dance around the idea of womanhood. Her paintings focuses on the female figure, milkmaids and Madonna’s, an abundance of life’s pleasures. With the strong colours and dramatic poses she invites whoever dares, ‘to indulge’.

The aim with the labels is to create an integrated visual meeting between the predominantly male winemaking traditions and the sensual nature of the wine itself. The eventual idea with the usage of the Maidens is not to objectify them but rather to turn them into super heroines

An Art in South Africa website comments on du Toit’s work, “‘ One need not be a detective or a Freudian or Jungian analyst, to be aware of a strong element of eroticism in these works.” Well, I suppose wine has always been related to harvests, fertility, and the like… However you interpret the labels, they are indeed lush and enticing on the shelf. Juno made a good choice in signing du Toit if they want to gain a bit of extra attention as wine buyers scan rows of mostly boring bottles.

Price: $3.33
Maker: Double Dog Dare Cellars, Ripon, California
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13%
Our Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Most wine drinkers might not be excited by a new $3 wine, but here at Box Wines we are always on the lookout for great wine values. Double Dog Dare Merlot (non-vintage) looked very promising - a $3.33 price tag, making it just about the least expensive bottle in the shop, and a marketing approach that ’s a bit more clever than most of the low-end wines. The label shows a smiling canine leaping through a flaming hoop. The wine, unfortunately, was perhaps not bad for $3 but was not particularly good. The nose had licorice and spice elements. The flavor was dominated by the earthy plum notes that we associate with very low-end merlots and cabs, and there was a sharpness in the finish that breathing didn’t entirely cure.

Cute label, ultra-cheap price… it’s too bad that Double Dog Dare Merlot didn’t quite measure up on the palate. For about the same price, we like Two Buck Chuck Merlot a bit more - it had better fruit and was not quite as harsh. Overall, we’d recommend stepping up a few bucks per bottle and getting a better Australian or California Merlot. A couple that come to mind are Bohemian Highway Merlot at about $6, Barefoot Merlot for $5, or the oaky Forest Glen Merlot that retails for about $9 but can periodically be found in the $5 range. If you do try Double Dog Dare Merlot, do give it plenty of air - we did notice improved balance and a slightly smoother finish after an hour or more of breathing.

Price: $3
Maker: Charles Shaw Winery, Napa County, California
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 12.5%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw Merlot 2005, aka Two Buck Chuck, isn’t a fantastic wine. But there’s a reason why 300 million bottles of Chuck have been sold - this Merlot is light, simple, fruity, and accessible to casual wine drinkers. It doesn’t have much of a nose, and it’s light-bodied for a Merlot. The flavor is plummy, with some oak and spice in the finish.

If you are willing to spend five or six bucks for a bottle of wine, you can find a better Merlot than this one. But, for three bucks, or just two in California, this is OK plonk. According to WinoDailyNews, Charles Shaw Merlot 2005 won a gold medal at the 2007 New World International Wine Competition. Pitumbo.com gave it thumbs up, too. Go ahead, risk a few bucks, and let us know what you think.