The Desert WIne Guy - 2012 Francis Coppola Diamond Collection Merlot.

  

  

 

  With Springtime (and the heat) right around the corner I thought that I would do a last minute review on a Merlot. Start looking for some Springtime wines to be reviewed soon. Having said that today's review will be on the 2012 Coppola Merlot that was bought by my wife for $12.99 at a local gas station. I am not expecting much and there is nothing available on line concerning it but it was a nice thought from Mrs. Desert Wine Guy. A little bit about the Coppola wineries. Coppola vineyards is owned by Francis ( of The Godfather fame) and Eleanor Coppola. The Vineyard is located in Geyserville, California and is the former home to Chateau Souverain Winery. According to the Coppola vineyards website the grapes for the “Diamond Collection” are grown from various vineyards across California. By the way the actor Nicholas Cage, (great actor) whose real name is actually Nicholas Kim Coppola is a nephew of Francis Ford Coppola. 

    Now off we go to the review. The review started off a little rocky. The wine was very jammy with a slightly overpowering Bing Cherry mixed with Cranberry Juice for it's flavor,  There were very slight tannins that did come out later in the tasting. Almost tastes like flavored cherry drink with a Cranberry finish. very slight body to it. This wine would make an OK summer wine with hot dogs and chips at the barbecue. At $13 I believe it a little overpriced since there are more serious Merlots available at that price. The wine poured a medium Purplish in color and rested in the glass with a Cranberry color. When swirled and tasted, the wine had an almost overpowering Cherry Cranberry Juice and I thought at times I detected a slight hint of Chocolate. You might think that since I tasted these flavors in the wine that it has some complexity, well sorry to disappoint but it doesn't. The wine is mostly straight forward Cherry & Cranberry. There are some other flavors but nothing other that would steer the flavor away from those two. 

    Here is my final two cents on the wine. It is kind of funny that at the opening of this review I promised a Springtime wine review because that is what I ended up doing here. I guess that's ok because it is the season. read on and you will have the first Spring wine review. For $13 dollars I find this wine slightly overpriced due to the fact that I have reviewed very good wines for a couple of dollars more. I assume the winery believes that the name Coppola should add a few dollars more to the price of the bottle. Don't get me wrong I would still buy the wine again however if you are after a serious Merlot this is not it. This is a summertime let's barbeque in the sun type of red wine. Don't take it to seriously. Maybe it wasn't made to be taken too seriously, who knows. I would also suggest that if you want to get the different flavors I found (as little as they were) that you open the wine 45 minutes prior to drinking it.

    Have a great spring everyone. As a preview of the next review, Mrs. Desert Wine Guy is at the store right now picking me up a white "Jug Wine" for review as a mixer with juice. I thought that would be fun. Till then, take care.

                                                                                                        The Desert Wine Guy