Macari Merlot Estate 2008

Music has the magical ability to transport you to a particular time and place. I'm sure more than a few of you would agree that wine holds the same magic, and for me this particular wine charmed me right back to childhood.

In the glass I see clear ruby colors but with a semi-thick opacity and good intensity, clean on the nose but with a spicy and vegetal bent, cut to hints of resinous dried fruit and red licorice... or to be more exact... Twizzlers (my favorite afternoon double feature treat!).

Dry on the palate, and tart acidity showing red fruits, eucalyptus and even a trace of olives (I'm bicycling through Tuscany in 2006...sigh.)

Okay enough reminiscing, back to the present: medium body, spicy and vegetal, with a good medium to long (and soft) finish (my adult heart feels carefree and happy) A good Merlot @ $21 SRP.

Macari Wines are on Long Island's North Fork.

Terra Noble Carmenere Gran Reserva 2009

This week, as part of a Snooth tasting hosted by Eric Guido, we had the pleasure of sampling four Chilean red wines.
The Terra Noble was my absolute favorite of the night, and not even the most expensive at about $16 to $18.

Deeply opaque with a finely woven texture brushed with a swash of reddish purple hues, on the nose this Carmenere shows beautifully out of the glass, in fact I put it down for a minute to write some notes and could still smell the extremely rich aromatics. There is some oak with vanilla, and mocha/coffee accompanied by a palate if intense blue fruit, finishing smoothly and velvety and going on forEVER.

For Eric's take on this gem and the other three wines of the night see The VIP Table.