Trader Joe's Reserve Meritage Mendocino County 2013

The last wine I intend to review from the October 2016 Fearless Flyer is the TJ's Reserve Meritage Mendocino County 2013. I have been trying to think of something interesting to say about this wine but finally decided to just tell it like it is! This wine is not very good!

I like California versions of Bordeaux style blends, aka Meritage, I have had good wines and also, not so good wines from Mendocino. This Bordeaux blend is 33.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 24% Petit Sirah, 11% Syrah, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec and .5% Petit Verdot. The wine is said to spend 24 months in French and American oak. The alcohol content is 13.8%. All of these statistics tell you this should be a pretty good wine.

The wine starts decently but somewhat nondescript. However, as the wine lingers, the flavors deteriorate and the finish is sour and unpleasant. There is just no reason to recommend the wine. We actually poured out about half of the bottle. Life is too short to drink bad wine! At $9.99, this is not very much to spend for a California Meritage but I think your money will be better spent on something else. If you are a Costco member, the Kirkland Napa Meritage is far better for only $2 more.

SC Wine Joe rating = 84 points

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