Victor Hugo The Hunchback 2005

I am steadily drinking my way through my Christmas wine, and some of the bottles have proven to be quite good. Victor Hugo The Hunchback 2005 is a blended wine from Paso Robles. It is 50% Merlot, 20% Syrah, 15% Petit Verdot and 15% Cabernet Franc. The Cabernet Franc gives this wine an especially fragrant and appealling nose (why don't more winemakers use this varietal?), and Petit Verdot should add some stiffening to this wine, but it doesn't. This isn't a big wine; it is fairly light in color and medium-bodied. This isn't a detriment. This wine would accompany and compliment a wide-variety of foods. It is smooth and fruity, with a nice touch of tannic bitterness on the finish. It's also nice for sipping on its own. Decant this wine and give it about two hours of breathing time. This is really a nice wine, good but not great. It retails for about $15 a bottle, however, which is pretty steep for such an unpretentious bottle. Giving this one a 3/5 on my value scale.