2004 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Merlot

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a Rispoli Event. The event was the 2006-2007 UW PMP CS Masters Graduates Dinner at the Yarrow Bay Grill. I was a graduate. Mr. Rispoli was the organizer of said event. We all had a great time.

Now, Yarrow Bay Grill is a pretty decent resturaunt. Their wine list is mostly Washington and California, with a few other nations represented in small quantities. Their list is a pretty good indicator of who's who in Washington state. They have plenty of DeLille and one of my favorites, the Sequel Syrah. So I was excited to eat their.

Turns out the catered meal came with our choice of red or white. The red was the 2004 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Merlot. It seems these days Mondavi's name is all over the place in the grocery store. This is a $10 wine and I didn't expect much from it. However, as far as $10 Merlots go, you'd be hard pressed to find I better one I think. I'll open nominations now. The wine was completely inoffensive, with just a slight bit of alcohol burn on the back end. There wasn't especially anything complex or interesting going on, but for free I could drink it all night.

I'm just going to take time out and give props to Mondavi. Everything I've had from them has been a quality drop. I haven't ever been super-wowed, even by Opus One (before you jump on my case, realize I haven't tried every vintage ever made), but I've never been sorely disappointed... or mad.

There, glad I got that out of the way. I can't wait to see what I get to drink tonight.