The Velvet Devil Merlot 2017
APPELLATION: Columbia Valley, Washington State
WINERY: Charles Smith Wines
VARIETAL: 89% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Malbec
ALCOHOL: 13.5%
NOTES:
Black currant | Cedar | Smoky
Robust because bodacious seems laterally juvenile. Big & bold. Bombastic, say? Well-structured & Velvet Elvis smooth. Campy, see? Still -- fun not frivolous. Focused. The bouquet is of dark no darker fruitiness w/ smoky lilt. Bit of a black peppery kick to the boozy olfactory. Fruits go to the top of flavors led by black currant w/ black cherry attachment.
Woods... seasoned humidor Spanish cedar & something of a stiff tobacco stem/stalk. O A K as it lives & breaths. All easy grasps, wanting to be grasped. Wanting drunk & to go down easy. Undertones are just as concentrated as their overs, dryly-so. Vanilla bean, plum. Crisp. Lively... oh, fine... Bodacious. Cocoa, clove. I get the feeling of little to no finagling, scant fingerprints. All grapes.
VARIETAL: 89% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Malbec
NOTES:
Black currant | Cedar | Smoky
Robust because bodacious seems laterally juvenile. Big & bold. Bombastic, say? Well-structured & Velvet Elvis smooth. Campy, see? Still -- fun not frivolous. Focused. The bouquet is of dark no darker fruitiness w/ smoky lilt. Bit of a black peppery kick to the boozy olfactory. Fruits go to the top of flavors led by black currant w/ black cherry attachment.
Woods... seasoned humidor Spanish cedar & something of a stiff tobacco stem/stalk. O A K as it lives & breaths. All easy grasps, wanting to be grasped. Wanting drunk & to go down easy. Undertones are just as concentrated as their overs, dryly-so. Vanilla bean, plum. Crisp. Lively... oh, fine... Bodacious. Cocoa, clove. I get the feeling of little to no finagling, scant fingerprints. All grapes.
Locked & loaded for bang rn, not l8r. Drink by today. Finishes quite sweetly, darkly, nice oomph, never limp. Then tightly tidy. A rockstar who cleans the motel room he trashed. Not complex but driven af. I almost forgot looks, kinda did. I drank it all. Close my eyes and my memory is of burgundy shag carpet. paneled walls. Paisley. What's it all mean? Who knows. A seriously fun pour, this. Altho also a bit of a faux dive, really.
ADDENDUM: pair with Hawaiian pizza.
FINAL GRADE: B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
ADDENDUM: pair with Hawaiian pizza.
FINAL GRADE: B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
::: very :::