2008 Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells Merlot

Hello all!! We had a very nice merlot this evening, with breaded, oven baked pork chops (a nice pairing). It had a deep garnet color, and aromas of blackberry and vanilla. It started out a little rough around the edges (it is a 2008). But it opened up nicely into a lovely velvety fruit forward Merlot. This is exactly what people like about Merlot. It was a beautifully balanced fruit forward velvety pleasure to drink. As Gary would say, it had a high delicious factor. It's not particularly complex, but it was yummy! I got this for $20 at Ashes last night. I'm not generally a big Merlot fan, but I may have to keep a bottle around.