Grocery Store WineFor adults 21+

Our take

Dark Horse Merlot California Red Wine

GSW Score

Score pending. A GSW score appears once the store listing carries a shopper rating and count.

Style
Red wine
Size
750 ml
Grape
Merlot
Region
California
Shelf barcode
0085000022870
Dark Horse Merlot California Red Wine bottle
Vendor listing image · stored in the Grocery Store Wine image archive

Our take

What we make of this bottle

In our September 2026 checks the price fell between $8.99 and $13.99, and that low end sits among the cheaper reds we follow. The grape is Merlot.

Merlot can carry a wine on its own or soften a blend led by Cabernet. It generally ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and often comes out with a rounder structure. Regional guides describe plum and other red or dark fruit, and in many examples a less forceful tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon, with climate and blending pushing the wine either fresh and medium-bodied or broader and richer. That is the grape in general, not this bottle in particular.

The origin given is California. We do not have a shopper rating for this bottle.

Gallo lists Dark Horse among the wine brands in its portfolio, and beyond the grape and the state we have no tasting note confirmed for this bottle.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.

More from the desk.

Related bottles with a written overview and a public evidence file.

The prices we checked

Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.

The regular price can vary by store and date.

From the producer

Brand ownership

Gallo lists Dark Horse in its wine brand portfolio.

Research status

What we are still checking

Our overview above draws on the dated store feed, shopper ratings, our region and grape research, and any sourced producer facts. We are still working to confirm the current release, the full producer record, and the bottle itself, and we update this page as we learn more.

Region guideCalifornia

A little background helps this bottle make sense.

Getting to know California.

California on the label is useful provenance but weak detail about place. For these wines, sourcing disclosure, blend construction and house-style consistency carry more decision value than a generic climate paragraph.

The place

What the name means

A state-level appellation, broader than an individual American Viticultural Area. It permits a multi-region blend and does not by itself identify one climate or soil.

Weather

How grapes grow here

The state spans cool maritime zones and hot inland valleys. A California designation alone does not reveal which conditions shaped the fruit.

Soil

What lies under the vines

At state scale, sourcing and house-style construction matter more than any single soil story.

How large the region is

Reusable question
Which counties or AVAs supplied the blend, and did that mix change by release?

Places within the region

Resolution limit
County, AVA and vineyard claims begin only when the release names them.
Grape guideMerlot

The grape name gives context. It is not a review of this bottle.

Getting to know Merlot.

Merlot is a red grape that can make a complete wine or soften a Cabernet-led blend. It generally ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and often has a rounder structure.

Category guide

What to expect in the glass

Regional guides describe plum and other red or dark fruit, with less forceful tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon in many examples. Climate and blending can make it fresh and medium-bodied or broader and richer.

Sources: New Zealand Winegrowers; Napa Valley Vintners. Checked Aug 10, 2026. See all 28 Merlot wines we cover →

Where this information comes from

Store listing
Price, package, product identifier. Checked Aug 10, 2026.
Barcode
The shelf barcode shown here is computed from the store product identifier. It has not been checked against a bottle.
Method
Every price, rating and fact here is a dated observation. How we check.

Report a correction or bottle mismatch.