An ongoing tasting of wines under the $10 mark, accessible in Vancouver, that we will post about regardless of whether we loved it or it was absolutely putrid. We will wade through bottles of bad plonk to find those hidden gems around town and hope that in doing this, you won’t have to do the same.

Cono Sur Merlot 2008

(85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet, 3% Syrah, 2% Malbec)

We’ve all seen this wine before, and it was actually one of the few from the colourful “Cono Sur single varietal” line that is available locally and that I haven’t tried. Its price is currently reduced in the BCLDB to $9.99, which seemed like a great “cheap BBQ with friends” type of wine.

The colour is dark with a vibrant purple rim…almost syrah-ish in colour. The nose brings dark purple fruit, blackberry, and hints of greenness. The texture is soft as expected with more purple fruit, dark chocolate, and a black licorice character. Definite noticeable tannins (slightly green) with a bit of a stemmy finish.

There’s definitely nothing overtly wrong with this wine. It unfortunately doesn’t live up to the precedent set by the other Cono Sur labels… the Viognier, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Noir are all surprisingly good and only a dollar or two more. For me this wine is just fairly uneventful and not even really worth this post.

Read more about Cono Sur’s push towards sustainable farming practices as well as their cool carbon neutral program here. Which I think is pretty impressive for a producer of their size.

I guess this puts me 0/2 on this Cheap as Clay thing…