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Tim Lemke

Tim is the founder and chief reviewer at Cheap Wine Ratings since 2007.

Irony Napa Valley Merlot

If you live in the US, it’s likely that Napa Valley is one of the wine regions you hear people talk about often.  Some of that has to do with their reputation for creating great wines, but some of it is just marketing.  And a side effect of all that buzz (pun totally intended) is […]

Gran Reserva Serie Riberas Merlot

A couple weeks ago, we highlighted a Concha y Toro merlot from their Casillero del Diablo brand.  But as I mentioned then, Concha y Toro has a number of different brands.  Gran Reserva Serie Riberas is another of their brands. This wine comes from the San Clemente area in the Maule Valley, which is the southernmost […]

Twisted Merlot

I tend to find that the sweet spot in terms of price to quality ratio is typically in the $12-18 price range, at least for what I want from a wine.  But I know that some people come to this site looking for even better bargains than that.  And so, I do look for those […]

Jacob’s Creek Merlot

I’ve mentioned before that one of the things I like about merlot is the different personalities it can have.  This one from Jacob’s Creek reveals one of those unique personalities.  Perhaps that’s the Australian terroir coming through.  Although, this isn’t a single vineyard wine.  And that brings up a philosophical question about terroir.  Can there […]

Casillero del Diablo Merlot

Concha y Toro is Chile’s largest wine producer, with vineyards throughout Chile and a dozen or so different brands.  One of those brands is Casillero del Diablo. I admit, I’m a fan of the Casillero del Diablo brand.  The story is that the name came from a winemaker who told others that the devil lived […]

Santa Carolina Reserva Merlot

Chilean wines are one of my “go to” choices when looking for exceptional value.  And it’s not just for one type of wine.  You can find really good reds and whites from Chile and given the broad range of wine regions within Chile, there are a number of different styles to be found too. And […]

Estancia Keyes Canyon Ranches Merlot

You may have noticed that the last few reviews on this site have all been for merlot.  That’s also the theme of my column in the latest issue (issue #26) of Mutineer Magazine. This merlot from Estancia didn’t make that column, but it’s still a very tasty merlot worth checking out. It comes from the […]

Falesco Merlot

I commented a couple days ago about merlot-haters, but one thing I failed to mention is that these consumers may just misunderstand merlot.  They may have just tasted the wrong merlot.  One of the things I like about merlot is that it can have a number of different personalities.  It’s grown all over the world, […]

181 Merlot

How about another merlot review?  I thought you’d like that idea. 181. You may have seen this wine or another one from the Noble Vines family in shops and wondered what it’s all about.  The labels are simple.  It’s just a number and a varietal name.  But what does it mean? The numbers represent vine […]

Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Merlot

If there’s one complaint we got on this site in 2012, it was the quantity of white wine reviews versus red wines.  The red wine lovers have spoken and they felt under-served.  So, let’s start off 2013 with a little balance and follow up my first white wine review with a red.  And, let’s make […]