Back to France

Although I stated early on that I would stick mostly to Italian wines, I am not doing a great job. But I have a great excuse this week -- I went to a BYOB French Bistro this weekend called La Sirene. The place holds about 25 people and serves amazing French-American food. No, I wasn't there with my roommates, although they wanted to go pretty badly. My girlfriend was back in town. I'm starting to see a correlation between the wine I drink and the company I keep.

Now on to the wine: Chateau Ste. Michelle Merlot from 2008. My girlfriend Chloe took this picture at the restaurant and you can still see the label pretty clearly. After a few bottles of red wine, dinner, and dessert, nothing was very clear. But this is a good picture nonetheless and brings me to a good point: always take a quick picture of a bottle you like. Chances are you will not remember the name, and shopping by label is incredibly easy.

The wine maker says that they "craft this wine to be [their] complex yet approachable Merlot. The wine offers aromas of black cherry, leather and spice with layers of rich dark red fruit flavors. A touch of Syrah adds a jammy fruit character." Another hilarious description of wine.

Here's what you need to know about this wine: it is made from primarily Merlot grapes in Washington State (not exactly France), has a solid 13.5% alcohol content, and is a very "approachable" wine. Most complaints that people have about red wine (bitterness, sweetness, intensity, price, etc.) cannot possibly be claimed about this wine. As a result, this Merlot is very drinkable, but lacks any distinguishing factors separating it from other Merlot wines. Even so, it is a great wine at a great price. And it's Frenchy.

Cost: $15 

Paul's grade: 8/10