Oak Lake Vineyards Merlot

Awhile back my brother suggested that, since we're blogging about cheap wine, I might want to venture into the back corner of the local convenience store and pick up a few bottles of those $2.00 wines typically chosen by hobos. I scoffed, but then this past week at the local CVS I bought a bottle of the cheapest wine in the drug store. The difference, I suppose, is that its alcohol content has not been elevated in any way; it's a very sane 13%. But CVS doesn't specialize in finding low-priced wine deals like Trader Joe's. So it's a safe bet I'm not going to enjoy it.

First off, there could be nothing less interesting about Oak Lake Vineyards. They don't specify year or attempt to sell their wine through any means other than price. No fancy label. No web page. Nothing. In fact, googling Oak Lake revealed nothing other than a reference to it winning an award of some kind in 2008; a bronze medal during the San Francisco Chronicle wine competition. The fact that it's called "Oak Lake" in and of itself bores the Hell out of me. Oak? Really? You couldn't call it something more inspiring? What about Great California Sequoia Redwood? Now that's a tree. Blah blah blah, oak barrels and aging. Blah blah. You bore me, oak enthusiast. And by the way, didn't we review Oak Leaf awhile back? Wasn't that the cheapest wine at Wal-Mart? Why are cheap wines always named "oak?" Is it because they're aged in steel?

Anyway, the Oak Lake Merlot delivered exactly what it should; an inexpensive drink. It's a bit sour, but in a pleasant way. There's a good bit of cranberry in there, which I quite like. I wouldn't show this wine off to my friends, but it's an excellent wine to pick up if you're desperately racing to your local CVS at 11:55 pm, hoping to get there before alcohol sales are cut off at midnight. It will pair very well with cigarette smoke and inane 2:00 am conversation. Drink it while cursing your boss and calling your ex-girlfriend to ask her why she dumped you.

5 out of 10

CVS, $4.99