More Notes from the Cellar

I've been on a Merlot kick for a month, as I work my way through some of my older wines that need drinking. I started with the cheap wines, with the prejudice that inexpensive wines are made to be drunk the minute they're bought, their tannins are generally mild and they don't age well. As I've been discovering over the past year, some of these cheapies can age very well. This past week I had a surprisingly good 1993 M.G. Vallejo that probably retailed for around $7 at the time, and an opulent 1993 Glen Ellen with a California appellation that retailed for $5.00 at the time. The latter, lush and velvety, with cherry-berry flavor and fine balance, was one of the best Merlots I've ever tasted, regardless of price. Incidentally, the alcohol was just over 12%. One wonders if the big bruisers of today will stand the test of time, or become hot and unbalanced as the fruit dries up.