Red wines may look dark as night in the glass, but they taste like bottled sunshine. That’s because it takes extra sunlight during the summer months to fully ripen dark-skinned grapes. Plants use photosynthesis to turn light into energy, and this process helps explain why Washington state has a natural advantage over California when it comes to making bold and concentrated merlots, like this value-priced example.
Read more Norristown’s Jimmy Amplo will bring a ‘Rocky mentality’ to MLB’s High School Home Run Derby
During this time of year, Philadelphia gets the same amount of sunlight per day as Napa in California’s wine country — roughly 15 hours per day. Washington’s Columbia Valley is more than 700 miles north, which adds up to almost 10 degrees of difference in latitude. This differential provides Washington vineyards with an extra hour of sunlight in the critical weeks of the summer growing season.
With more sun, vines don’t just ripen faster. They also produce more of the dark phenolic compounds in grape skins, which add color, flavor, and antioxidant properties to wine. The resulting difference is quite subtle in wines made using the very thickest-skinned red wine grapes — like cabernet sauvignon and syrah — but the effect is more noticeable in wines made using merlot.
Read more 2026 Kia K4 Hatchback: Bigger and better than you’d think
It would be difficult to find a California merlot that delivers this much concentration and substance for the dollar, with enough tannic grip on the palate to handle a juicy steak off the grill. Its flavors of blackberries and black plums taste fresh with only a hint of oak influence, similar to a light dusting of cocoa.
14 Hands Merlot
Washington; 13.5% ABV
PLCB Item #98025 — $10.99 through Aug. 2 (regularly $13.99)
Also available at: Moorestown Super Buy Rite in Moorestown ($9.49; moorestownbuyrite.com), WineWorks in Marlton ($9.98, wineworksonline.com), and Total Wine & More in Claymont and Wilmington, Del. ($9.99, totalwine.com).