Charles Shaw Merlot California 2004

Surprisingly good for the price. It has fruit, a little bit of complexity, and isn't out of balance like most wines at this price.

good

I did not like this at all. Starting with the bouquet, it was hard to get a bouquet out of it, but you get a strong smell of sour cherries, then a quick coffee smell at the end. When you just start to taste it, you get a sweet cherry flavor that made me initially think "oh, this is going to be fun". But the middle tastes were cidery sour and had a very long finish... unfortunately of metally bitterness. Thought it may benefit from a 3-hr breathing, but it just got worse - even lost the only bright spot it had, the sweet beginnings. I used this to cook some beef bourguignon, but I made the mistake of putting in a wine I did not taste first, so my dish turned out having an acidy flavor. Yes, but its only $3.50 you say... I would not even take it if it was free. C'mon, $7 more dollars will get me a decent French bordeaux.

Absolutely horrible. Trader Joe's had opened in my area and I heard about this stuff. It was supposed to be quaffable wine at $2.99 so I bought some Cab, Merlot, and Shiraz. What a disappointment. I wouldn't even use it for cooking. The good part is that buying these wines was a cheap mistake

This stuff goes down like grape juice - a VERY drinkable wine. Has a full flavor and goes very easy on the tannins. Yum.