Wine Ophelia Gets Naked! Naked Merlot that is...

Purchased at the Wine Cellar in Richmond for around $12. Live in Richmond? Go check em out and also follow them on Twitter HERE.
Tasting notes for the Live Twitter tasting #WAMerlot hosted by Drink Nectar.


Snoqualmie 2007 Naked Merlot Columbia Valley
This wine is visually quite lovely with a deep, almost opaque dark red-violet color. Pleasant aromas of dark forest berries rise to greet me. (ok, so it sounds cheesy... get over it. I like it.) Blueberries, black currant, a slight whiff of leather.

On the palate it is a bit green, youthful and acidic. Green in a way that I tend to like. The wine has medium body and nice, firm tannins but not overwhelming at all---nicely balanced. Vibrant acidity.
A touch of pencil lead.





The Naked Merlot seems like it would lay down nicely for a few more yers and mellow into a gentler, more subtle and complex wine. I can envision the tannins and greenness giving way to subtle leather and tobacco notes, showing off a more relaxed fruit profile and a little less acidity and tannin.





Much in the same way I imagine an exuberant teenager mellowing into an elegant adult or a frisky kitten into a mellow cat enjoying a puddle of sunshine.







This was on my first tasting. I kept this wine for 3 days, something I don't often do. Most of the time because with reds, I find they are just spent after day 2 and if I like them, well, there just isn't any left. Ok. My point being that on day 2, the tannins were totally relaxed and the wine was perfectly enjoyable. So this leads me to recommend decanting before you serve. Day 3 it was STILL GOOD. Which really surprised me. It was very mellowed out, showing off all its fruit in a very nice way (i.e. not fruit bomb)

I would definitely buy this one again and call it a good value for the price.

Enjoy!
Cheers! -- Wine Ophelia