Delicato Merlot 2003

Price: $16
Maker: Delicato Family Vineyards
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 3 liter box, pushbutton spigot
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

We’ve been tasting mostly bottled wine lately, so it was nice to get back to our first love, boxed wine, by trying Delicato Merlot 2003. We found dark berries, oak, and sweet vanilla in the nose of this merlot. On the palate, we found cherry and blueberry notes, with enough tannin structure to make the wine interesting. Overall, if you are looking for a respectable merlot that offers the convenience of a box, this Delicato offering is a fine choice.

Delicato enters their wines in numerous tasting competitions, and often bags some medals. Their 2002 Merlot won a silver at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and was scored at 86 points in the Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide. A year earlier, the 2001 Delicato Merlot was rated one of Wine Spectator’s “100 Best Wine Values” and won gold medals both San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and the New World International Wine Competition.