Gumdale Merlot: 2010

 


This wine comes with a fun story.  A friend of mine is moving into a smaller home.  She asks me if I want to take several bottles of Merlot she’d had for “a while” because she doesn’t really like Merlot and doesn’t want to take them to the new place.  I said, “sure.”

Little did I know at the time, but all five bottles were older bottles.  This one is 2010 and suggests a 3 year shelf life.  Ooops, we’re a bit beyond that.  They were all inexpensive bottles as well, inexpensive wine that doesn’t age as well as a higher quality of wine.

The first bottle I opened was brown.  I mean like the color of mulch brown.  I didn’t taste it, down the drain it went.  The second bottle I opened had a nice flavor that lasted about twenty-four hours.  It was drinkable, enjoyable, but went bad fast once the bottle was opened.

This bottle was number three.  It tasted like prunes and roasted blackberries.  The flavors were fabulous and I really enjoyed it.  I also drank most of it in one sitting because I didn’t want to run the risk of it going bad like the previous bottle. 

The moral of the story?  Sometimes things will age well when you think they won’t.  It had been stored properly, kept at a reasonable temperature, and been cared for.  The result was an inexpensive bottle of Merlot that tasted fabulous.  Will every bottle do that?  No.  But it does show taking care of even the most inexpensive bottles is important.


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