Doubledog Dare Merlot

ABV: 12.5%
Price: $2.99. Seriously. Three effing dollars. That's it. I bought this bottle of wine with change scrounged from my car seats. Hells yes.
Location: California

My overall, general impression...Sure, drink this up! Easy, smooth, table wine. Cheap enough to serve to a group. Tasty enough to not be embarrassed to serve to a group.

Step one: Look at the wine. This wine is a very dark raspberry-purple. So dark it is not translucent. I shall call the color Midnight Grape. Also, this will be my superhero name, should I ever develop superpowers. No sediment. A nice looking wine.

Step two: Swirl the wine, note the viscosity. This wine has a medium viscosity, perhaps a bit thin for a red, but it does cling to the sides of the glass somewhat. Not gonna lie, I can barely tell the level of viscosity from wine to wine unless the wine is like molasses-thick. The more wine I do this with, the better I think I get, but I could also just be getting better at sounding pretentious.

Step three: Sniff the wine. This wine smells like wine. I don't really know how better to describe it. It is a solid, generic wine-smell. It is somewhat fruity. It is not unpleasant. It is also not especially interesting.

Step four: Tasting time! This wine tastes pretty good. It is lighter than many reds, very smooth. It does not have that dry-red after-taste that some cheap reds have, which is nice. You know, the one that sort-of coats your tongue and makes you want to brush your teeth. None of that going on. There is a pleasantly dark flavor that gives the impression of a late summer night. I didn't pair this with anything because I was too poor this week to buy steak, and also by the time I got to sit down and have a glass of wine, I had already eaten all of my calories for the day. Have I mentioned that I am on a diet? Urgh.

Step five: Drink a bunch more. No problem. Like I said, this wine goes down easy. And it so. fucking. cheap. I don't mind drinking a glass or two or three. And this wine holds up after a glass or two. It is mellow enough that it doesn't overpower my sense of taste.

To sum it up: Well, it's not worth writing home about. Or texting home about. Or however people go out of their way to spread news these days. It's a solid, very inexpensive, very drinkable wine. There is nothing amazing about it, nothing surprising, but what it delivers, it delivers very well. I would definitely buy this again, especially if I had company coming over. Pro-tip, bring this to a dinner party or keep a bottle or two around for unexpected gift-giving needs. It tastes more expensive than it is, and is neutral enough not to offend any quirky palate.

Are you looking for a specific wine? Want me to review something you're curious about? Have a suggestion or a question? Feel free to comment below and I will do what I can to accommodate!