If you're looking for a good, affordable Merlot, then you just may enjoy Fox Hollow Merlot Wine. With wines under $10 for a 750 ml bottle, Merlot from Fox Hollow is affordable enough to drink every day while still tasting great. Here's everything you need to know about this affordable easy drinker from Fox Hollow Vineyards.
Merlot
Merlot is a Bordeaux style red wine grape that makes a plummy red wine. In Bordeaux blends, Merlot softens the powerful flavors and tannins of Cabernet Sauvignon. By itself, it makes a relatively low tannin wine that is often equal parts rich, dry and smooth. Flavors in Merlot include ripe berries, plums and earth notes.
Primary Merlot growing regions around the world are Bordeaux, especially the Right Bank, California, Washington and Chile. One of the most expensive wines in the world, Chateau Petrus, is a Right Bank Bordeaux made almost exclusively from Merlot grapes.
Fox Hollow Wines
Unlike Chateau Petrus, Fox Hollow Wines are created to be affordable. The parent company, Bronco Wines, produces a large number of mass-produced, inexpensive wines under different brands, including the well known Charles Shaw (Two Buck Chuck) brand. It is the company's philosophy that people need affordable, everyday wines to serve for certain occasions. The company doesn't profess to make fine wines, and believes that affordably made wines with a primary focus on economy have a place in the market, just as ultra-fine wines do.
Fox Hollow chooses its grapes and makes its wines with two goals in mind: good flavors and affordability. The wines are not finessed wines with a lot of structure built for aging and meant to be served with seven course French meals. Instead, they make their wines to be easy drinkers that are ready to drink the day that you buy them. Their wines aren't high in tannins or aged in French oak. They are made simply and economically to be a good, quaffable glass of wine that you can serve at large gatherings or when you want to drink an inexpensive wine that still tastes great.
The grapes for Fox Hollow wines are purchased from vineyards all throughout California. It is the company's philosophy that California has an amount of high quality grapes in excess of the amount necessary to make some of California's finer wines. Fox Hollow seeks out quality grapes from producers who need to sell off excesses at affordable prices, and the company believes that California vineyards are almost always guaranteed to have a successful harvest of grapes that can be turned into tasty wines. Next, wines are fermented in large batches in stainless steel tanks, which is a far more economical wine making process that making small batches in French oak barrels. The result are bright, fruity, inexpensive wines.
Fox Hollow Merlot Wine
Like other Fox Hollow wines, the Merlot wines are made from grapes that come from vineyards all across California's wine grape growing regions. Fox Hollow Merlot wine costs less than $10 per bottle, and can be as low as $4 or $5.
Tasting Notes and Ratings
Tasting notes from various tasters give the wine a decent rating - for instance, Wine Enthusiast rated the 2005 Fox Hollow Merlot a respectable 86 out of 100 points, which isn't bad at all for a $6.00 bottle of wine. Other tasters call the Merlot from Fox Hollow "an outstanding value" and cite its smooth tannins, warm soft berry flavors, notes of herbs and earth and velvety texture as high points of this wine.
Where to Buy
Fox Hollow wines can be found locally in any number of grocery stores and wine shops that sell affordable wines. Trader Joe's carries many of the Bronco wine brands, including Fox Hollow. It is also available online through a number of wine purveyors including:
If you love Merlot but don't want to spend a fortune, then you just may enjoy the flavorful and affordable Merlot from Fox Hollow Vineyards.
