A pretty consistent refrain in this blog is that there is a lot of BORING Merlot out there. Happy to report here is one that is definitely not boring and priced right. The name is a hoot also – The Velvet Devil Merlot. This is an offering by a guy named Charles Smith. He looks a bit like a roadie leftover from the Grateful Dead who stumbled into the wine business. All of his wines have tongue in cheek names and labels that look like a 7 year old’s art project. This is the first of his wines that I have tried, but based on this, I am going to seek out some more.
The 2007 Velvet Devil Merlot is a rich ruby red in the glass. It has quite a spicy nose – mostly nutmeg - with a whiff of sweet pipe tobacco. The tasting notes mention plums and they are there. However, the fruit I mostly detected was dried cranberries. Did not get the cocoa also mentioned, but the spice and smoke carried over from the nose. The tannins were more than you usually experience in a Merlot. This Merlot definitely has a backbone. Happy to report that a couple of swirls in the glass rounded the edges out nicely. This is a Merlot that Cab drinkers would probably like. The overall effect was pretty smooth with medium finish. Good value for money.
The Velvet Devil 2007 Merlot would stand up nicely with steak or game. There was a bit left in the bottle when our take out Indian arrived. Beware – that combination did not work.
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- Dave Larkey
- 201-704-8555
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To me this was nice but not astounding – overall a good wine but I don’t think it was a stellar value at almost $15. There are better bargains out there at lower prices… Pushing to the $15 mark I expect more maybe it’s just me but I know I’ve had some very very nice wines around that price point (look into spanish and south american wines for examples of what I am talking about).