Full disclosure--whenever our friends from various wineries send us wine to review we are sure to let you know that. The folks at Lenz Winery on Long Island New York sent each of us at the wine cask 6 bottles to review. This is the second of the 6 Lenz wines I have reviewed. See my review of their 2004 Chardonnay HERE. You can also see PB's review of this vintage 2000 Merlot here. No tasting notes were consulted for this review.
Nose:Heady! Smokey. Tar is here which is a nice old world style departure from the heavy fruit bombs of many recent western hemisphere merlots. I also pick up cassis with cherry hints and obligatory oak with some nice cedar dimensions.
Palate: tart and tight on opening. Balance is good though not a rich as promised by the nose. Flavors fall off the palate quickly and do not spread through the mouth for a less than full mouth feel.
Finish: Finishes nicely but shallow. Creamy oaked finish with cherry.
After breathing this for about an hour
Nose: Really opened up with more fruit of plumb, cassis and tar. Cedar and oak still pronounced.
Palate: The tannins have unwound quite a bit. This leaves the acid significantly more pronounced to nearly the point of distraction. Still less than full in the mouth though still quite nice.
Finish:Staid.
Overall I liked this wine while not being blown away by it. The nose was so richly layered and earthy I feel I could have been drinking something much more expensive than the $23 price point on this wine. This was a great bottle if only for the multifaceted and complex aromas the wine gave off. While the mouth feel (I am very big on "feel" in my mouth - much more so than simple sweet/salty/sour/bitter taste) is less than desired in the wake of the robust and heady nose, it is certainly not bad. This is a fine merlot for pairing with an evening meal.
You can go HERE to order this wine direct from Lenz.
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