Pahlmeyer Merlot 2003:
Could win a contest for the most “versions” of cherry flavors on the nose- roasted, macerated, cherry cola, fresh Bing cherries, cherry pie a la mode (with hints of vanilla, maybe not ice cream!) . . . well you get the idea. Plus, there was oak and some burnt flavors (tar, charcoal, fresh cut wood). So that’s the nose. The rest of the wine was a whole lot less complex or, at least, a little less interesting to figure out. After half an hour or so the fruit flavors, mostly berry, mostly cherry (surprise) become a little candied and the wine began to change from a pleasant sort of fruit pie to some sort of Frankenstein IHOP pancake creation. Something with lots of syrup, a whole fruit salad, coconut and weird, mushy pancakes. This is, needless to say, a strange drinking experience . . . doubtless one you will all want to try! I have to confess that I don’t love sweets so this transformation was not my favorite. I can imagine, somewhere in the back of my mind, a perfect scenario in which this wine somehow improves over time in bottle. However, I can also imagine a much more obvious and dastardly scenario. I will also concede that it is possible to get some immediate enjoyment out of a bottle like this . . . share with four friends and don’t linger! If you drink it relatively quickly it shouldn’t have time to go all Gremlin after Midnight on you. Of course, if you drink along, you could also shotgun it! But then I would imagine you would regret your experience and so would your dry cleaner. 84 points
It can’t be that bad can it?