The Velvet Devil Returns

Remember when a single movie line about hating Merlot crashed an entire wine category overnight? The Velvet Devil Merlot stands as a delicious counterargument to that infamous Sideways moment, proving that Columbia Valley Merlot deserves your attention.

This $10 wonder from Charles Smith Wines delivers remarkable complexity for its price point. Originally created as "the least expensive oak-aged Merlot" on the market, it continues to impress despite changing hands multiple times since Smith first launched it. The 2022 vintage showcases brooding dark flavors—black cherry, bitter chocolate, blueberry, and plum—with an intriguing herbal or tobacco note adding depth and character. 

The Velvet Devil isn't some lightweight, forgettable red. With its blend of 89% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 1% more Merlot, it delivers that perfect "heft in your glass" as summer transitions to fall. Columbia Valley's ideal conditions for Bordeaux varieties shine through in every sip. If you've been avoiding Merlot since that movie came out, or simply looking for exceptional value in your wine selection, this dark, brooding bottle deserves a place in your rotation. At this price point, it's the perfect reintroduction to what makes Merlot special.

Want to discover more exceptional value wines? Subscribe to the Cheap Wine Finder podcast and website for regular reviews of wines that deliver quality well beyond their price tags. From upcoming Pinot Grigio finds to what might be "the best value-priced Cabernet Sauvignon," we're always searching for those hidden gems that keep your wine experience exciting without emptying your wallet.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing The Velvet Devil Merlot
• 1:27 The Sideways Effect on Merlot
• 2:15 Charles Smith's Brand Evolution
• 3:54 Tasting Notes and Wine Composition
• 5:53 Final Thoughts and Coming Attractions

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hey, welcome, it's Domain Dave again. Like always, we do value wine reviews on the website cheapwinefindercom and on the cheapwinefindercom podcast. We talk about it. Surprise, surprise. Today we've got one that is kind of a blast from the past for well Cheap Wine Finder. From the past for well cheap wine finder.

Speaker 1: 0:28

This is a Charles Smith wine, and back in the 2010s, charles Smith came out of Columbia Valley and about a left field with a line of wines value price wines that were well received, while making hundred-point wines from the high-end stuff. So he was just getting it all done and this is one of Charles Smith wines. That's the brand that all these wines are out of, and this is the Velvet Devil Merlot 2022. It's from the Columbia Valley. Now, back in the day, actually, charles Smith told me so I kind of know this from the horse's mouth that this was the least expensive Merlot, that was barrel-aged, oak barrel-aged, and one of the reasons why is there was a movie no, 15, 20 years ago now called Sideways. It was about these two guys from Los Angeles who went up to Santa Barbara wine country for a bachelor getaway thing and one of them, while drunk, said he hated Merlot and loved Pinot Noir, and overnight sales of Merlot crashed and sales of Pinot Noir took off. It was an internet sensation before there was internet sensations and to this day Merlot sales are still down and Pinot Noir sales are up. So Columbia Valley, where Charles Smith came from, didn't really do Pinot Noir that much. It wasn't the right climate, temperature, soil, it wasn't the right place, but they did do Merlot well. So the Velvet Devil was a way of bringing Merlot's sexy back, which is another from that time, justin Timberlake, that's probably about the same time that all happened.

Speaker 1: 2:29

In the meantime, charles Smith, after he establishes these brands and he's got a bunch of them sells them. So it's been a long time since Charles Smith Wines is owned by Charles Smith. It's been owned by Constellation Brands, then Castellation Brands sold it to the Wine Group and just recently the Wine Group sold it to somebody else. So I'm thinking, oh no, I mean this line of wine and I remember I'm really partial to Kung Fu Girl Riesling and that's been good for all these years, and they have all black and white labels which I'm going gonna take a sip, with kind of pen and ink drawings on it. They're cool looking labels and that runs throughout the Charles Smith line. I think his new wines are now House of Smith. He sold everything else off and so I thought maybe is this still good? Is this going to be still the less? I mean, I don't know, this is still gonna be the least expensive oak aged Merlot.

Speaker 1: 3:34

The Charles Smith wines always had outstanding liner notes. They would tell you everything you need to know, or you know just a bit more than you expect to know, and nowadays they you get just a bit and the answer is yeah, it's pretty good. They both castellation the wine group to good wines. I didn't really expect them to screw the whole thing up and they didn't. Another sip this is a dark, a brooding wine with black, dark flavors black cherry, bitter chocolate, blueberries, plums, interesting kind of odd spice with a little bit of a pull to um, there's either herbs or tobacco in there. It's one of those like what is that flavor that is deepened with all the flavors. It's interesting.

Speaker 1: 4:30

This is a real. It was 10 bucks in case, uh, I found it for 10 bucks might have been sale, but it's a real Merlot, which I don't normally. I'm not crazy now Because since Sideways and the crash of Merlot, people don't put that much effort into it anymore. Well, this one's got some effort into it. It's 89% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Merlot, which you could have called it a Bordeaux blend. It's good. It's from Columbia Valley. Columbia Valley is a great place to get Bordeaux blends and Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons and all that type of thing, so it's a value price Merlot and if you haven't had Merlot in a while, yeah, try it.

Speaker 1: 5:20

It's got some dark flavors. It's not a light, fluffy wine. Maybe, with the summer coming to an end and fall coming in with cooler nights, it's one of those wines when you want a little bit more heft in your glass. You don't want light and breezy, you want a wine that's got a little that kicks in a little harder. There you go. I just took another sip of it and it tastes really good. Uh, that's this. The velvet double merlot 2022 from columbian valley used to be charles. That's still the brand. His name is Charles Smith, just Charles Smith. Ain't nowhere to be found. Now, what I got coming up? I've got a real cheap Pinot Grigio. I've got a wine that just might be the best value of price Cabernet Sauvignon in the next couple of days. So I'll be talking to everybody Keep it cheap, stay cool or whatever you need to do.