E. GUIGAL, Cotes du Rhone, 2015

Price: $10-$20

AOC: Cotes du Rhone, Rhone

Varietal: 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre

Color: Ruby 

Aroma: round and full, joyful and manifest red fruit and berries, a little earthy note, a little spice, mineral and floral aroma    

Palate: medium-full body, juicy acidity, very little mineral, sweet red fruit, sense some alcohol, fine and little tannin, balanced, an incredible value
added: on the following day, there are more floral aroma and black pepper palate coming out

Duckhorn Three Palms Vineyard, 2010

Special thanks to Chunpi!

Price: $90-$100
AOC: Napa Valley, United States
Varietal: 82% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot

Color: half violet and half orange at rim

Aroma: Penetrating, powerful, sweet and perfumed

Palate: medium body and tannin, slightly matured, tobacco, silky, sweet and concentrated fruit, a little perception of alcohol, very little spicy. Oaking added structure to the wine. A round, powerful yet enjoyable, sophisticated wine. Consider the price, I personally prefer regular Merlot label. 

Chateau La Vieille Cure, 2004

Price: $30-40

AOC: Fronsac, Bordeaux

Variety: Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Color: Opaque, dark purple, little orange at the rim

Aroma: It definitely needs time to aerate~Sweet! a "medium to full body" aroma, not an elegant, light bodied, and penetrating aroma like pinot, but a typical aroma from matured merlot. stewed red fruit jam, seductive, very good

Palate: 13 years of aging, flavor is concentrated and bold, matured, medium to full body, medium+, fine tannin (still shows some potential for cellaring for few more years, but totally fine to drink now) , tea leaf, earthy, sweet stewed red fruit dominant, a typical, matured right bank Bordeaux, irresistible for me, can't beat the value for the price. (needs time to aerate).  

Vina Real, Crianza, 2012

Price: $10-20

AOC: Crianza, Rioja, Spain

Variety: 90% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha, Mazuela y Graciano

Color: Ruby and orange hue

Aroma: medium intensity but has a penetrating red fruit aroma, good!

Palate: medium- body, clear ripe red fruit and juicy acidity, tannin is little, there is some perception of alcohol so sometimes taste very little bitterness, the best part of this wine is the sweet vanilla oak which combines very well with the light body and acidity and makes the wine balanced. A good quality crianza. 

Chateau Puygueraud, 2012

Price: $10-20
AOC: Francs - Côtes-de-Bordeaux, Bordeaux
Variety: 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec

Color: Dark ruby, a little deep violet
Aroma: pretty opened already right after opening, red fruit and vanilla, sense some alcohol, intensity is not particularly high
Palate: can taste firm red fruit and a little black fruit right after opening, however the sweetness faded pretty quickly, so do not decant this wine for too long (<30 mins), even just enjoy it from the pour without decanting is fine. Firm and clear acidity, some tobacco, some vanilla from oak and on the palate it somehow shows a buttery feeling which I am not a fan of, feel like this wine has too much oak in it, medium+ body,  little and fine tannin, and still can sense the alcohol, feel like 2012 is not a powerful vintage, the 14% alcohol and oak is too much for this wine. It needs more fruit and sweetness to balance the wine. Have tasted the 2009 vintage before which is much more enjoyable. 
Second day tasting: Half bottle of the wine was stored in the fridge with vacuvin pump, surprisingly on the second day, the wine becomes round and soft, the buttery mouth feeling is gone, tannin shows up and can taste red fruit from Merlot! There is even some fragrant(perfume) shows up in the aroma, starting to feel confused regarding how long to decant the wine.