Charles Smith Merlot Columbia Valley the Velvet Devil 2009

Floral on the nose. Interesting flavor profile on the palate. Excellent Merlot. 90 pts.

This was fabulous with Mexican-style chipotle chocolate. Description from distributor: Charles Smith, the wine maker of this haunting 15,000 case production Merlot, has made an incredibly voluptuous, robust and balanced expression of this noble variety. It has a deep garnet color and an intensely concentrated nose of black cherry, blackberry essence, wild game and freshly ground black pepper. On the palate, it is full-bodied and velvety, wtih fine-grained tannins and an extremely long finish.

I love this! its great! It is very fruity, but not overly sweet. Starts out fruity, and then has a little dryness at the very end. Definatly refreshing. I think its my new favorite! I love the Velvet Devil.

We sell this wine at our Exclusive Wine Boutique for $12.60 Wine Her Dine Her 5410 Almeda Rd. Houston, Tx. 77004 www.wineherdineher.com (We ship by case)

Light coriander and young lemon zest on the nose, Lingonberry and black cherry on the palate with very little alcohol. This wine would go absolutely perfect with anything, but should only be enjoyed with a meal only because of the smooth bittersweet finish; it wouldn not take away from the meal like some of the other varietals of Merlot, which leave a more chalk-like finish on the palate. 88 points, only because it needs a few more years.

Very smooth. EDF says "very smooth; almost like Cakebread."

Because Merlot's style can range, some offerings may be softer, suppler and less tannic, but they're no slouches. These well-loved wines are full of currant and cherry flavors. Pair them with roasted red meats, duck, goose, lamb and full-flavored cheeses.