De Bortoli 'Sero', Merlot Sangiovese 2006, King Valley ($11)

Reminiscent of what a chianti ought to be but seldom actually is. Here the merlot providing a density and evenness to this wine but making ti pay the price of removing a lot of that refreshing lightness that a straight sangiovese would have had. I got black cherry coming from this wine gave it some darkness. Drank well straight from the bottle. At $11 was good value and just a little bit different from the usual stuff at this price point.