Deep purple in color and I’d say the aroma is dominated by black pepper. The flavor is interesting with a solid punch of fruit punctuated with some moderate tannins. There’s almost a sweet aura to the flavor although it’s a dry wine. A few tiny off flavors but nothing to complain loudly about at $7 a bottle.

This wine is truly vile. This is one of those times you’re really lucky you have the good ol’ Cheap Wine Guy tasting wines for you; you wouldn’t want to try this at home. It smells like burnt herbs and spices along with a little “stinky garbage” aroma. That’s more or less what it tastes like as well. There’s a little sweetness at first, but then the flavor just falls apart. Nasty flavors, overbearing tartness and a tacky finish to complete the experience. The original price was $7.99 and I got it on sale for 2 for $10 but even at that price it’s a rip off.

I was able to pick up some wines in the “super cheap” class at a new liquor store in Nashua, NH. I got these (potential) beauties for 3 for $12. The store itself is very impressive. It’s in the Trader Joe’s plaza across from the Pheasant Lane mall in Nashua and I think it’s simply called The Liquor Shop. The atmosphere is absolutely pristine, everything in its place and displayed appealingly. The wine selection is middling, not huge, but the beer selection is out of this world. Check it out if you’re in the neighborhood. This merlot has an aroma of unripe grapes and a deep red color. The flavor is smooth and slightly sweet but unremarkable in every other regard. Some of that unripe aroma makes it into the flavor and the finish is short. It’s not great but for four bucks it doesn’t turn my stomach either. It also gets a couple extra credit points for having a real cork, a classy touch especially in this price range.

This is a new cheap brand for me, I hadn’t heard of Avia before but they sure have it in plentiful supply and in many varieties at my liquor store so I thought I’d give it a go. It’s Chilean wine bottled by a Slovenian distributor. It definitely smells cheap, of unripe grapes and oak. The flavor begins smooth and somewhat fruity but turns to a nasty medicine-like flavor almost immediately and that flavor carries through the finish. It’s only four bucks so I didn’t expect much but it’s really barely palatable.

This wine has a high bar set for it, the 2003 vintage was so good it earned a “Cheap Thrill” seal of approval. They changed the label a bit and I think it looked more elegant before. The label says that a third of the grapes are not crushed but added whole to create a distinctive flavor, which is pretty interesting. The aroma is potent and earthy and the flavor starts soft and fruity but develops on the palate with mild tannins leading to a medium finish. This is a very likable wine, though it lacks the complexity of the 2003 vintage and it costs a dollar more, which is enough to deprive it of another “Cheap Thrill” award.

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I wasn’t impressed by the Cab of the same label but I already bought it so I’m giving the Merlot a try. It has the same, very pleasant looking label on the bottle. Dark berries and spice on the aroma and a flavor that defines “fruit forward.” As soon as this stuff hits your mouth…BLAM! You get a very healthy dose of fruit followed by a tiny hint of oak and a quickly fleeting finish. I like this one much better than the Cab and this would be a great wine to take to a party. Pretty much anyone who likes red wine could appreciate it to some degree and the label makes it look like you spent more on the bottle than you did.

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This is the third or fourth year I’ve tasted this same Merlot from the same vineyard. It’s never a bad wine and it can show flashes of brilliance in certain years. It has a nice fruity aroma and a light purplish red color. The flavor starts smooth and grows more tart as it sits on your palate. The core of the flavor is not-quite-ripe berries with notes of citrus and some very subtle tannins. Not bad but not the best year I’ve had.

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The label feels like parchment paper and has a very Californian look to it. The wine is deep purple in the glass and has a potent aroma of dark fruit and almost a creamy sweetness to it. The flavor is very smooth and full of ripe blackberry flavors, a true Merlot in every sense. This is an extremely likable wine at a reasonable, though not rock-bottom, price.

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Made in Italy and then imported to California, this wine has a slightly more “old world” smell to it. It’s funny how after a while you start to recognize characteristics of regions and how different countries make wine differently. This isn’t anything new to a wine connoisseur, but it’s a transitional novelty to the individual nevertheless. Like when you get a few years out of college and realize one day that different beers taste really different and Busch Light actually isn’t good. So let’s call this wine the Busch Light of the old country. Cheap and accessible but not good. The flavor is thin and simple. First fruit then it turns to mild tannins then it turns into unnecessary calories. You can do better.

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Deep in color and smells of a chocolate-covered cherry. It starts out tasting like very little but then a distinct blueberry flavor takes over. There is a harsh flavor on the short finish that I’m not fond of. It’s a standard cheap Merlot, no more and no less.

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