2011 Da Da Da Merlot

First a bit of business for those of you who were expecting another Cellar Saturday last weekend, I apologize!  You see, it was my 25th High School reunion last Saturday, so I decided to go back to Chicago for that and thus I didn't have a Cellar Saturday on the proper first Saturday, so instead for this month we will ha Cellar Saturday on the second one!  I hope you can all forgive me!  Now on to tonight's feature, the 2011 Da Da Da Merlot that my colleague gave me today for helping her, as this was a bottle she bought in a variety 6-pack from Nakedwines.com, so I figured what the heck I'll try it!  It's also from Lodi, so it has that going for it, even though it's not a Zin...

The wine is a little lighter in color than your typical merlot, with a color similar to many pinot noirs. The nose has some nice jammy fruit notes of blackberry, strawberry and some prune, and over the top there are some fresh herbs and cut grass.  The taste is very fruit forward, with some tart cherry up front that transitions easily to some toasted oak and herbs midpalate.  The tannins are somewhat soft on this wine, leading to a rather short, lackluster finish.

Overall I would rate this wine a 6.5, it's not a spectacular merlot, but it's easy to drink and a pretty good value for around $8.  As for pairing, tonight I'm enjoying it with a rare grilled NY strip with some grilled golden beets and fresh sweet corn that I picked up from a farm stand yesterday.  The wine works well with the veggies but does get a bit lost with the bold flavors of the steak.  In any case, for a free wine I can't complain too much!