Highland Wine is one of my go-to retail spots for great flavors and great values. They always have the best of the best, as well as great tasting but economically priced finds. I tried a few new ones recently from the super economical choices, including Lucky Star Pinot Noir (love it!) and Pine & Post Cab (post coming soon!). Another of these wines was the 2007 Leaping Horse Merlot from California.

Despite the more than excellent price tag (just under $5.50 a bottle), I wasn’t a fan of this wine. It just summed up all the things I often dislike about Merlot. The tannins weren’t blended well with the other flavors of the wine, and the berry flavors were surprisingly heavy, unbalanced, and lacked smoothness.

However, many other reviews online rave about this wine. I’m tempted to try it again just to see if I got a bad bottle. If you’ve had this one, I’d love to hear your opinion.

Origin: California
Where: Highland Wine
Price: less than $5.50
Next time: I’ll pass (at this point) but am considering a re-taste

What a lovely Bordeaux blend! W says it’s his favorite wine – ever! I’m really wishing I had another bottle right now.

This delightful wine came from France to Highland Wine (seriously, if you’ve never been, go there tomorrow so that Skip, Sawyer, and Houston can set you up with some fabulous wine picks!). It’s 70% merlot (shocking, I know.. merlot!), 20% cabernet, and 10% Petit Verdot.

It has a healthy serving of tannins, and they blend so perfectly with the rest of the flavors. Many heavy-tannin wines seem to have tannins competing on one side against flavor on the other side… but they’re not collaborating together to make a great wine. This wine has two team players with the tannins and the great fruit flavors that mesh together like old friends. If you know French, check out the video linked from the top-right corner of their website.

I’m sure this Bordeaux would go great with a nice steak or other piece of red meat, but in my case it accompanied an improvisation to this fancy grits, chicken, and mushroom dish from Epicurious. I used Anson Mill grits made with milk, baked chicken breast cutlets with rosemary and garlic, topped with a sauce of beef and chicken stocks, white wine, mushrooms, shallots, and bacon. Super yum!

Origin: France
Where: Highland Wine
Next time: Get a case! / Special Occasion
Price: $29

As you might know, I really really like Morande’s Pinot Noir. LOVE IT as a staple everyday wine. $10 bucks, great flavor, it’s convenient and a great buy. And then there’s this Reserve Merlot. What a let-down. Granted, I’m not a huge Merlot fan to begin with (they seem to only rely on tannins for their flavor, in my opinion… not actual flavors). This one proved to be no different. The taste was very tanniny and not a lot of fruit to back it up. The flavor behind the tannins was watery and wimpy. I wasn’t a fan. I think they have a cab, so I’ll give that one a try next. Otherwise, it’s back to their delicious Pinot for me!

On the other hand, W liked this wine. He generally likes tannins and Merlots though. Each to his own!

Origin: Maipo Valley, Chile

Where: Shell Gas Station, DeFoors Ferry Rd.

Price: If only I could find the receipt… will try to remember to look next time I’m there. Under $20.

Next time: I’ll pass.