description: Pure varietal, just 13.5% alcohol, and priced in the low $20s—that would seem to be a recipe for a thin, wimpy red. Not here. Scents of bramble and baked bread, smoke and crushed rock, mingle with strawberry/cranberry fruit. The smoke has a wood fire penetration, but it works here, as the wine opens into a finish of caramel and buttered nuts.
variety: Merlot