This is what easy-drinking Merlot is all about. Chocolate, cassis and eraser form a nice bouquet, while vanilla and tobacco meld with red fruit and cassis in the mouth. Stock up, then drink up. Imported by Hemingway & Hale. ——M.D.(3/1/2006)—— 85

Light red fruits with herb accents mark this value red. Not sweet or jammy, it’s rather more like a petit-chateau Bordeaux. Has some tang and tannins, and it’s a refreshing change from other soft, often cloying, inexpensive Merlots. Imported by Hemingway and Hale. ——M.M.(7/1/2005)—— 84