Little Penguin Merlot

[elfs]

I had previously tried the Little Penguin '03 Shiraz and found it to be pleasant, but unremarkable. Since the price is right, $6.99, I decided to give the '03 Merlot a go. Little Penguin has adopted an emerging industry practice of color-coding the wrappers on their bottles: red, yellow, blue, green and so on. The Shiraz is coded a dark red, the Merlot is a deep blue.

Although it has only a soft smell, talk about your flavor bombs. One sip and this wine erupts across your tongue and up into your sinuses. The flavor is delightfully fruity and very drinkable without any harshness, although it doesn't last long after exposure to the air. Have some friends around to share. It has a nice texture, too. For the price, it makes a good companion wine for something powerful in its own right, like steak or burgers, something it has to stand out with but not compete against.

(How sad is it that in Albertson's the signs for the different varietals include pronounciation guides? If someone needs help pronouncing "merlot", maybe they shouldn't be shopping for one quite yet.)

Comments

[rapier.livejournal.com]

I laughed until I tried to imagine someone in a liquor store asking for a "peanut noy-er" or a "merlutt." And then I imagined jamming a corkscrew into my ear so that I could somehow unhear that. And I don't even drink wine. So maybe it's a good idea to have the pronunciation guides up there. As a public service, you know.

[casualprofessor.livejournal.com]

Ditto: it's intimidating enough to novices; then there are all the complexities of Shiraz, Syrah, and Petite Syrah [\evil_grin]

[(Anonymous)]

Why? Not everyone learns the basics of French in their daily life, and I'd rather know ahead of time that the t is silent than embarass myself at the counter.

Little Penguin Merlot

[(Anonymous)]

I loved this wine too - my tasting notes for Little Penguin Merlot (http://www.boxwines.org/articles/16).