2007 TRÉ Cellars California Merlot

Modern ‘Market Merlot Makes Mark

I’m trying out a few new things here, as a milestone approaches.1 What milestone? A question best answered tomorrow, but in the meantime I have a supermarket merlot to tell you about.

This is the fourth in a series of four wines I received from a PR firm on behalf of TRÉ Cellars. The first three were a mixed bag, with the cab and syrah finding no sanctuary here, but the chardonnay surprising me quite a bit by being downright good. And now we come to the end.

And now we come to the merlot.

Do I have to go into it? Do I have to describe my general feelings about merlot? Must I quote Sideways for the like thousandth time? Well, to be honest—no, no I don’t. Why?

Because this stuff is pretty good.

Will it blow you away? No. If you really can’t stand merlot, will you love this? No. But if instead of having a verifiable hate for the grape, you simply don’t come across many merlots that are all that yummy these days, this might be one for you to try. And at approximately a Hamilton, the experiment won’t hurt if it doesn’t work out.

So, the wine? A bright ruby red at its core, it does tan slightly to the edges. Doesn’t turn brown or anything, but the lightening to the edges is not wholly red. The nose is pleasant, perhaps inherently so, with notes of raspberry bush and bright cherry, and just a hint of dried herbs.2

The palate, too, is pleasant,3 and features notes of raspberry and rhubarb. The TRÉ Merlot is medium-bodied, and pretty easy drinking for a merlot. Very New World-ish.4

All in all, another TRÉ that is easy for me to recommend. Should be available at your local supermarket.5

Verdict: B-

(full disclosure: I received this bottle as a press sample from Folsom & Associates)

2007 TRE Cellars California Merlot

2007 TRE Cellars California Merlot

Footnotes

  1. Between the alliteration in the headlines, and the use of footnotes, I hope people don’t start to think of me as affected. I also hope I can keep coming up with alliterations ↩
  2. The specific herb, however, I couldn’t quite place. My bad. ↩
  3. Though uninspiring. ↩
  4. Or, y’know, modern. ↩
  5. But then again, maybe not. ↩

2007 TRÉ Cellars California Syrah

I Just Don’t Know Why Anyone Would Drink This

I get supermarket wine, I really do.

Not everyone lives near a wine shop. Not everyone wants to bother with an additional trip to a wine shop to buy their wine. Many people just drink wine, and all they want to do is drink something familiar and inoffensive that won’t break the bank.

I was sent several bottles of an admittedly supermarket-grade wine (it was right there in their literature) to review here on Notes. One was a chardonnay that really pleasantly surprised me, and one was a cabernet sauvignon I couldn’t find much to say good things about.

There are two more bottles. This is one of them. It is far, far more the latter than the former.

The 2007 TRÉ Cellars California Syrah is the TRÉ in the pink label. Its grapes come from some of the most prestigious growing regions across California. The TRÉ Cellars motto is “Three generations of winemakers. Three brothers continuing the family legacy. Three unique characters, sharing a common vision, To create the perfect wine to be enjoyed as ‘One of Life’s Simple Pleasures.’”

None of this tells you anything about what’s in the bottle, of course.

In the glass, the syrah is a dark maroon red at its core, with lightening, pinker-but-still-red edges. The nose offers some interesting aromas, including strawberry, stewed cherry, and red apple skin. Not something I’m writing home about, but the nose certainly had me in the mood for a fruit-forward, young-drinking, quality wine.

Oops.

The wine is medium-to-full bodied, with harsh, unforgiving tannins and a hint of raspberry. But that’s not the main flavor note. It’s not what I walked away from still tasting, still thinking about in this wine. No no, the fruit is there—I just question whether anyone will know when they taste the note that dominated the bouquet on the palate. What aroma-slash-flavor is this, you ask?

Pen ink.

Yeah. Pen ink. A little metallic, a bit oddly minty, the 2007 TRÉ Cellars California Syrah tastes like pen ink. I guess I can’t judge people if they like this—but I certainly wouldn’t be able to understand them.

Verdict: sub-70/100

(full disclosure: I was sent this bottle as a press sample from Folsom & Associates)

2007 TRE Cellars California Syrah

2007 TRE Cellars California Syrah

2008 TRÉ Chardonnay

A Supermarket Surprise

I do love being surprised by wine.

Sometimes, the surprise comes in the form of some new aroma, flavor or texture I’ve yet to come across. Other times, I get surprised to discover an area of the world that I did not take to be a wine growing region makes some truly righteous juice.

And still other times, I have my preconceived notions about price and quality utterly shattered. Just stomped. That, perhaps, is the most fun, because I get to share that surprise with you, and there’s a better chance you can end up sharing in it.

The 2008 TRÉ Chardonnay is 100% Monterey County chard. It should be available for $9.95 at your local store (your mileage will vary on that note, of course). And, frankly, it’s pretty damn good chardonnay.

The wine is a bright lemon yellow in the glass. I originally wanted to call it “straw” but that didn’t seem right. My wife suggested I hold up a lemon next to the glass, and voilà, that was exactly the color. The nose is primarily made up of an apple note, along with some grass and minerality that seemed almost sauvignon blanc-ish, but there is still something on the nose that leaves you no doubt this is chardonnay.

The wine is medium bodied, and something in here bites back ever so slightly (though, “heat” isn’t the right word—this wine clocks in at 12.5% ABV and feels like it). In general, the wine is clean and crisp on the palate. Notes of lemon zest and green apple mingle with a subtle, pleasant oaky roundness. The wine is in no way over-oaked, but it has touched wood and been bettered by it.

All in all, my expectations were admittedly a bit low when I popped the cork on the TRÉ Chardonnay, but I was pleasantly surprised over and over again. Easily recommended, especially when you consider the sub-$10 price point.

Verdict: B

(Full disclosure: I was sent this bottle as a press sample from Folsom & Associates)

2008 TRE Chardonnay

2008 TRE Chardonnay