A young red wine for drinking now, this week. It has a beetroot-red colour with a bouquet of black cherries.

On the palate the tannins are soft and there's a fruity taste of black plums and blackcurrants. This is a dry fruity wine of medium acidity and a definite dark red fruit character. It's 13% alcohol made for drinking young. It's very much a food wine and should go well with roast meats.

Merlot is seen more these days as the sole constituent of wines, whereas before the new world wines became so popular it appeared most often in a blend with cabernet sauvignon in Bordeaux. This wine comes from that area in a new brand with "merlot" on the label, at one time not long ago Bordeaux wines never gave the variety.

I don't know what connection Alexis Lichine has with the company but his name on the label has some guarantee of quality. Merlot is the most grown grape variety in the Bordeaux area. Its vineyards cover 32,000 hectares, the name is derived from little blackbird (it is said that this bird always eats this grape first though It's not surprising as merlot grapes ripen first.

Plus points are its fruitiness and forwardness, which also makes it susceptible to spring frosts and productivity. The category is A.C.Bordeaux which any red wine in the Gironde department may take if the yield is less than 55 hectolitres per hectare and it fulfils the other appellation criteria.

This bottle came from Morrisons where it has a sauvignon blanc twin, each are £ 5.99 but £ 4.49 if you buy two.