Oak Leaf Merlot

Oak Leaf Merlot 

         This week I decided to try Oak Leaf Vineyard's Merlot from California. This is the first Merlot that I have blogged about and I am very excited about this because Merlot is a wine that I have enjoyed in the past and it is one that I am very fond of. However, this is a cheaper Merlot so I wont get my hopes up for a really delicious wine... I will keep an open mind though. I chose this wine because it had an interesting flavor profile on the label that intrigued me. It describes the wine as "medium-bodied, soft Merlot... blackberries, and ripe plum." I was curious to whether I would taste the plum flavor and what that may bring to the wine.
         Upon pouring the first glass I noticed it had that dark purple-black color that is distinct for Merlot. As I did the sniff and swirl i smelled the blackberries and raspberries along with a little plum. It seemed like the body of the wine was a little thin and watery. I confirmed this once I tasted the wine. It didn't really leave any bitterness as an after taste and I didn't taste much very acidity. Making this wine not very "hot" to the taste. It also had a small smokey taste combined with a little oak. I also decided to get a little fancy with my experience and had a couple different cheeses and a few crackers with the wine which I enjoyed. I'm not sure how different my experience with this wine was because of the food. I would like to think though that the food did make it taste better. Overall, I think this is a very easy to drink wine that didn't really bring any complex flavor pairings which was a little disappointing but also expected. For the price of this wine I think it was a very good purchase and one that I could see myself maybe making again.