Who knew this could taste like smoke and chocolate

I had a case of wine consisting of a Argentine Malbec, Central Coast Syrah (Rosenblum), Aus Shiraz (Jip Jip), Sonoma Merlot, Sonoma Cab, Chilean Syrah, Napa Zinfandel (Joel Gott), Napa Zinfandel (Neyers) and few more. The wine had notes of brooding dark purple berry with bacon, smoke and dark chocolate in a medium body. Smooth. It was a fascinating wine. I gave it a 91. The problem was I just could not guess what the heck this was.

My first two and best guesses were the Malbec and the Rosenblum Syrah. I've had a Malbec blend with bacon and the Rosy's can have smoke and chocolate. Nope. The remaining possilities where not great. The Aussie Shiraz was not it either, though it can have some of these flavors, but the Jip Jip wasn't that The Zins were next to fall. This was getting ridiculous.

I guessed a few more that I don't remember but my 8th guess was finally "right". The Sebastiani 2002 Merlot, probably $12 from Trader Joes 2 years ago. Ack... merlot's cannot taste like this. Smoky bacon and dark chocolate. Wow.

Let's just say I learned something from this bottle which is all you can really ask from a wine.