Step 1: Infectious esophagitis produces characteristic ulcer patterns that help identify the organism on endoscopy.
Step 2: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) classically causes serpiginous (snake-like, winding) ulcers in the distal esophagus. These can coalesce to form large or giant ulcers.
Step 3: By contrast, herpes simplex virus typically produces small, shallow, well-circumscribed ulcers (volcano-like) often in the mid esophagus, pill esophagitis causes a localized ulcer at a point of pill lodgement, and corrosive injury causes diffuse circumferential burns rather than serpiginous ulcers.
Step 4: Because the described lesion is serpiginous and distal, the answer is CMV.