2003 Rodney Strong Merlot (Sonoma County)
Tommy and I have had this bottle of wine for about 6 months now. We had it at a restaurant with some friends and liked it enough to seek out a bottle at our local wine store. It has gotten lost in our inventory of wines because, well, it is a Rodney Strong Merlot. But tonight we wanted a light red and this one jumped out at Tommy. I wasn’t too thrilled to open it, but I also didn’t want to make any decisions tonight, so I was happy to have it. It was a nice surprise.
I would highly recommend seeking out this wine if you’re interested in a light bodied red wine. It had a silky texture and just tasted good. For those that do not drink wine very often, this wine would be a good wine to try. Tommy smelled a hint of cinnamon that quickly faded. The back of the bottle says “…plum and berry aromas, a toasty vanilla character, and a lingering finish”. I didn’t get the vanilla, but I definitely smelled the plums. It didn’t have a finish that jumped out at me as unique, but the wine from start to finish was well balanced.
We bought it at TotalWine for only $12. For $12, I think that this is an excellent value. I also think that this would be a good bottle to bring to someone else’s house, when bringing someone wine is necessary. I score it 89 points. It is a good example of a Merlot, but it didn’t have anything over the top to get the 90+ points. We drank it with our pork and risotto and it went well with both of those.