Price: $10
Maker: Red Diamond Wines, Paterson, Washington
Variety: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle
Our Rating: 8 out of 10
We had a glass of Red Diamond Merlot 2002 at the chain restaurant Houlihan’s, of all places. (They pour a nice glass of wine there… it’s supposed to be a six ounce pour, and it comes in a nicely oversized glass so you can easily evaluate the aroma. The wine list is short, but you’ve got to love the presentation.) This is a fruit forward Washington Merlot, with cherry and plum aromas augmented by spicy notes. The cherry and plum continue in the flavor, with a bit of vanilla in the pleasantly lengthy finish. Don’t expect lots of complexity, just an easy-to-enjoy, fruity Merlot.
According to the Red Diamond website, their name comes from the similarly named rattlesnake, which, oddly enough, isn’t found in Washington. The site also explains that Red Diamond Merlot was the first product, and was sold only to restaurants. But…
What happened next caught us by surprise – the demand for Red Diamond grew from a mere ripple into a wave big enough to ride. After trying our wine in restaurants, consumers began looking for more.
It’s not hard to imagine a restaurant guest noting the name of this pleasant wine to look for it in a store later. We haven’t seen it locally, nor was the dealer locator able to find a local vendor for the product. Back to Houlihan’s, I guess… 🙂