Meritage: America’s Tasty Blend

As you make the rounds of wine tastings, wine shops or wineries, you will no doubt encounter a Meritage wine. Chances are that, like me, you’ll assume this is an ancient innovation of a French vintner or a monk somewhere in the Alps.

The name for this tasty and wide-ranging type of wine actually only came about in 1988, by a small group of frustrated California winemakers who were seeking a recognizable term for their Bordeaux style blends.
In France almost all the great wines are blends, generally of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Cabernet Franc, a popular varietal wine in the Finger Lakes region is almost exclusively a blending wine in France.

Meritage is pronounced like heritage and is derived from a combination of merit and heritage. The word is trademarked and winemakers must license the trademark from its owner, the California-based Meritage Alliance.  As of August 2009, the Alliance had over 250 members.
Producers of Meritage must pay a $1 fee per case, which is capped at  $500 vintage and adhere to various labeling restrictions. It is also recommended that the Meritage moniker be reserved for a winery’s very best blend and with a production of no more than 25,000 cases.

Red Bordeaux is made mainly from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and to a lesser extent Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. A red Meritage must be made from at least two of these or the lesser known St. Macaire, Gros Verdot, and Carmenère, with no grape comprising more than 90% of the blend.

I’ve never encountered one, but white Meritages do exist. The white Meritage blends of at least two of the principal white Bordeaux grapes Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle du Bordolais.
Meritage wines are fun and flavorful. There are other worthy blends, in fact in the Finger Lakes at one winery the server explained that their Rhapsody wine was “like a Meritage” but the winery didn’t want to pay the licensing fee.

For some fun try a tasting matching a Bordeaux blend against a Meritage.

Technorati Tags: wine,wine tastings

Photo by Nick Sieger

Halloween Vineyard Adventure

A special wine tasting is scheduled 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, October 30,  at the Toledo Zoo. Sample wines of the world with a Halloween twist! Come in costume and enjoy great live entertainment along with tasty hors d'oeuvres and an amazing array of wines. You must be 21 or over. Tickets are required in advance.  Cost is $35 for Zoo members and $40 for non-members.

The event will take place in the Nairobi Event Pavilion from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM for wine tasting, then a cash bar from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The event includes the following: Around the World wine sampling, Appetizers, Tarot card reader, psychic,  live entertainment and  costume Contest. Reservations can be made by calling 419-385-5721, ext 3092.

Update on Blog Action Day

UPDATE FROM BLOG ACTION DAY CENTRAL -- "October 15th is finally here and nearly 10,000 bloggers around the world are writing about climate change today for Blog Action Day 2009!

At the stroke of midnight we got off to a great start when UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown surprised us with a Blog Action Day post on his blog saying that "climate change is the biggest threat to all our future.

From there we have seen thousands of interesting posts from bloggers in 150 countries. The Official Google Blog provided a green tour of their campus, Gadling is featuring green travel posts all day, and Grist has a great round-up of some of the best posts thus far. Nonprofits including Oxfam, Greenpeace , 1Sky and TckTckTck have all put up new posts. Blog Action Day has been the top Google blog search today and CNN just wrote an article about us!"

Be sure to check out our post on the impact of climate change on the wine industry.

Wine Growing and Climate Change

October 15 is Blog Action Day, an annual event where bloggers across the world unite to write about a single issue on a single day.  Through this collaboration conversation is sparked on an issue of importance across the web.

This year’s topic is climate change, and more than 4,000 bloggers from 123 countries are taking part, including many of the world’s largest blogs.



Climate change might be more devastating than you ever imagined. Global warming could lower the quality of wine in some of the world’s premier wine growing regions. (You may want to pour yourself a nice glass before reading further…)

One 2004 report stated that growing season temperatures have increased for most of the world's high quality wine regions over the last 50 years by an average of more than 3.5 degrees F. The temperature is expected to increase by another 3.5 degrees in the next 40 years.

According to a recent report by Greenpeace, France, famous for its unique wine varieties, stands to lose an important part of its cultural heritage as rising temperatures impact vineyards. The right climate is essential to grow premium wine grapes. Ideally it will be hot during the day and cool at night. Extremes in temperature can ruin otherwise good wine grapes.

The average annual temperature has significantly increased, leading to major shifts in the wine production calendar, according to the Greenpeace report. The harvesting season is occurring much earlier than normal and higher temperatures are proving detrimental to the vines. Wines end up having higher sugar levels and alcohol content while retaining less acids - which means they are unbalanced with an overripe flavor and heavier texture.

Other expected impacts are the increased risk of frost in spring, disease, and rotting. Wine authority Dr. Tony Jordan, speaking at an international wine symposium earlier this year in Australia, said that 'vineyards being planted now are going to be in the wrong place in 30 years' time'. A Melbourne University study has found that some areas could become too hot to grow wine grapes and growers might have to change to other varieties over the next couple of decades.

Technorati Tags: climate change and wine,global warming

Finger Lakes: McGregor Vineyard

FINGER LAKES REPORT – Our travels on the second day continued with a drive up a steep road to McGregor Vineyard. The winery building itself is just a few feet away from the vines. The operation is overseen by Max the wine dog. Glorious T and Spiderman are great dog lovers and were missing their own dog Scarlet, so they were glad to be greeted by Max.

The McGregor tasting room doubles as their restaurant, so this was the only sit-down tasting we had on our trip. It was good we were sitting down, because the tasting was a slow paced one. However, Max helped the time pass quickly by gladly sitting in the laps of each of our group.

The vineyard was established in 1971 and the winery opened in 1980. It was our first visit to the winery but probably will not be our last. The winery has a very distinctive down home feel. The tasting fee was $5, the highest we encountered on our trip, but it did include a snack plate of cheese and some great pesto dip.

The first wine was an unoaked 2007 Chardonnay. This was medium bodied with an apple and pear taste. It was rated “nice” by our group.

The tasting started to get very interesting with the 2007 Dry Riesling. This was very pale straw color with notes of grapefruit and lime. The showstopper (at least thus far) was when our server brought out the 2008 Dry Riesling for comparison. This vintage had a bit of spritz that created an entirely new and pleasing effect. It wouldn’t have been a bad day to spend just sipping this wine and enjoying the great McGregor scenery.

Next up was the 2007 Traminette. Traminette is very reminiscent of Gewürztraminer. This did not disappoint and it was especially good for McGregor’s first Traminette. Nice and dry with a spicy aroma.

Another unique wine was next up: Rkatsiteli-Sereksiya. We have enjoyed several glasses of Dr. Frank’s R-Kat over the years, but this was the first blend of this variety. Dr. Frank and McGregor are the only two R-Kat producers in the Finger Lakes. McGregor is the only producer of Sereksiya. It is considered a “mash-up” of Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer as far as taste goes. It was enjoyable, but not sensational. It retails for $24.99.

We next moved on the the reds and found two succulent, tasty wines. First was the 2006 Rob Roy, a Bordeaux style blend of Cab Franc (50%), Merlot (42%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (8%). The wine is aged in French oak for more than a year and the resulting wine is soft on the tongue with flavors of raspberry and black cherry. This is a standout and is priced at $39.99.

The crowning moment of our visit (well, maybe second to Max) was the 2006 Black Russian Red, a blend of Saperavi and Sereksiya Charni unique to McGregor. It is a deep, dark purple in color with bold aromas of plum, cranberry, blackberry and oak. I told Green Dragon I tasted elderberry as well. Glorious T ranked it as “so flavorful.” This was the winery winner and it is priced accordingly at $49.99.

The Rob Roy and Black Russian Red are available in large format bottles: a magnum (equates to two bottles) or the Jeroboam (equates to four). We discussed splitting a large bottle but ended up getting the pesto dip and headed out the door. There were more wineries to visit….

Technorati Tags: McGregor Vineyard

Mobile Meals Wine Gala November 7: The Details

One of the area's premier wine events is on the near horizon. The Mobile Meals Wine Gala will be held Saturday, November 7, at the Stranahan Great Hall in Toledo. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with wine tasting from 14 area distributors and appetizers followed by a sit-down dinner. After dinner, the live auction begins which features more than 30 groupings of wine -- some from private cellars. A silent auction will take place throughout the evening. Wrapping up the evening, there will be dancing to the tunes of the band Touched.

The schedule is as follows:

• 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. -- Wine Tasting
• 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. -- Silent auctions
• 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. -- Gourmet meal with accompanying wines
• 8:30 to 10:00 p.m. -- Live auction
• 10:00 - Midnight -- Live music

Tickets are $125 and patron tickets are $150. Sponsorship opportunities are available and cash donations are welcomed. The event is black tie optional.If you wish to attend, please call Carolyn at (419) 255-7806 or visit the Mobile Meals Web site.

Not only is this a sensational evening of wine and entertainment, but your support helps a most worthy cause. Mobile Meals home-delivered meal program is designed to enable the elderly, ill, disabled, homebound, the convalescing and all those who need assistance with diet and meal preparation to remain in their own homes and retain the dignity and independence they treasure. This program postpones and often eliminates the need for more extensive and expensive care arrangements. Meals are assembled in Mobile Meals' kitchen at Mercy Health Center. More than 600 clients are served daily and more than 500,000 meals are delivered annually.

Wine Gala A Sumptuous Success

Photo by Kyle May

Cotes du Rhone Rule

The best value in French wines may be found in the Rhone. Eighty percent of the wine in the Rhone region are called Cotes du Rhone and this term can be used for wines made anywhere in the region. The grapes used are typically Syrah, Grenache and Carignan.

Now your local wine store is making it easier than ever to purchase a taste of this classic French winemaking region. A blind tasting was held at Walt Churchill’s Market in Maumee on Saturday, October 10, and a tasting of Rhone wines is scheduled at Corks in Maumee this Thursday and Friday (October 15-16).

At Churchill’s Austin presided over a blind tasting of four Cotes du Rhone with prices ranging from $9.99 to $15.99. The four featured wines were: Grand Veneur 2007 CDR Reserve ($15.99) Wine A; Domaine le Vieux Lavoir 2007 CDR ($9.99) Wine  B; Kermit Lynch 2007 CDR 'Cypress Cuvee' ($15.99) Wine C;  and Chateau de Segries 2007 CDR ($13.99) Wine D.
The bottles were bagged and no information was available until after the flight was completed.

The Grand Veneur made a nice start to the tasting, but made no lasting impression. The Lavoir tasted of black cherry and to me and Green Dragon tasted superior to the Lavoir. The Kermit Lynch has a nice flavor of black berries. My favorite was the Chateau de Segries with its lighter body, well balanced cherry flavor.

My top two were D and B while my wife chose C and B. You can read the final results on Austin’s blog. This was a pleasant surprise on a couple of levels. My first choice was also the winner of the blind tasting. After reading the results of the blind tasting, I checked the wine rack. When I visited Churchill’s a week ago Austin had recommended a nice Cotes du Rhone, which I bought. It turns out is was the Segries. I’m looking forward to uncorking it very soon (maybe before I finish this post!).

On another note, it is great to see how affordable a nice bottle can be.  At less than $10 a bottle the Lavoir has great QPR (quality price ratio).

The upper end of the price scale is nice too. Austin served up two upper end Rhones, the grand finale being a $100 bottle of 2005 Chateauneuf-du-Pape from Chateau de Beaucastel. This is a symphonic blend of Mourvedre (30%), Grenache (30%), with lesser amounts of Syrah,  Muscardin, Vaccarese and Cinsault. This is an extraordinary wine with a soft, velvety feel and a complex bouquet.

Photo by Hajime Nakano.

Wine Tastings & Events: Week of Oct. 12, 2009

  Thursday, October 15
The Andersons. Wine Tasting. Maumee 5-7 PM.

The Andersons at Talmadge 6-8 PM. Nominal fee.

Corks Wine and Liquor, Promenade Plaza, 27250 Crossroads Pkwy., Rossford – (419) 872-6800. Rhone. What an amazing region for value and quality! Come and experience a lineup of creamy, zesty whites and robust, rustic reds. 6-9 PM. Cost $1 - $3 per glass.

Vino 100, Promenade West, 3355 Briarfield Blvd., Suite D, Maumee – (419) 866-8466. Samplings consist of four designated 2 oz. pours. The wines range in price anywhere from $8-$25. The cost of the tasting is $2 with a purchase, or $5 without. 5-9 PM.

Friday, October 16
Aficionado Wine and Cigars, The Shoppes at RiverPlace, 26567 N. Dixie Highway, Suite 135, Perrysburg, (419-873-4444) Fall Cigar Wines: 1. Pineau Des Charentes, 2. Graham’s Six Grapes Porto, 3. Noval 10 Year Tawny Porto, 4. Seppeltfield Cellar No. 9 Muscat. 5-8:30 PM. $10 tasting.

Corks Wine and Liquor, Promenade Plaza, 27250 Crossroads Pkwy., Rossford – (419) 872-6800. Rhone. What an amazing region for value and quality! Come and experience a lineup of creamy, zesty whites and robust, rustic reds. 6-9 PM. Cost $1 - $3 per glass.

Vino 100, Promenade West, 3355 Briarfield Blvd., Suite D, Maumee – (419) 866-8466. Samplings consist of four designated 2 oz. pours. The wines range in price anywhere from $8-$25. The cost of the tasting is $2 with a purchase, or $5 without. 5-9 PM.

Saturday, October 17
** Special Event ** Dance Uncorked -- Catholic Charities will host Dance Uncorked, an evening with exceptional wines, exciting dance and outstanding silent auction items at the St. Joseph Sylvania Family Center beginning at 6:30. Tickets are $75. More information is online at http://www.danceuncorked.com/ or call Cheryl at (419) 244-6711, Ext. 405.

Six local celebrities will team up with 6 professional dancers from The Dance Clinic to perform a dance routine for guests. Each pair will perform one dance and will be judged by the audience based on performance.

Aficionado Wine and Cigars, The Shoppes at RiverPlace, 26567 N. Dixie Highway, Suite 135, Perrysburg, (419-873-4444) Fall Cigar Wines: 1. Pineau Des Charentes, 2. Graham’s Six Grapes Porto, 3. Noval 10 Year Tawny Porto, 4. Seppeltfield Cellar No. 9 Muscat. 5-8:30 PM. $10 tasting.

Vino 100, Promenade West, 3355 Briarfield Blvd., Suite D, Maumee – (419) 866-8466. Samplings consist of four designated 2 oz. pours. The wines range in price anywhere from $8-$25. The cost of the tasting is $2 with a purchase, or $5 without. 5-9 PM.

Walt Churchill’s Market, 3320 Briarfield. Maumee, (419) 794-4000— Austin is out this weekend, so no wine tasting. However, there will be an Oktoberfest German Beer Tasting with Dave and Matt. No reservations are necessary. Pay by the sample or for the whole flight. Noon to 5 PM.

Technorati Tags: Wine Tasting,Toledo,Maumee,Perrysburg

Finger Lakes: Ravines Wine Cellars

FINGER LAKES REPORT – We wrapped up our first day with a great dinner at the Village Tavern in Hammondsport, a small village at the southern tip of Lake Keuka. The Village Tavern has an expansive Finger Lakes wine list and a menu that ranges from pub fare to gourmet. Fortified with a breakfast of corned beef hash the next morning, we set out to cover the East shore of Keuka – the first stop: Ravines Wine Cellars.

Ravines is a high quality, low production winery founded by Morten Hallgren, a French-trained winemaker who oversaw winemaking at Dr. Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars before striking out on his own. His resume includes a stay at Biltmore Estate Winery.

The tasting fee (as with most Finger Lakes wineries) was a very reasonable cost, $2 for five tastes. The day’s first wine was an outstanding 2007 Dry Riesling, a winner with a flavor of apples and a distinct mineral finish.

Batting second was the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc. This wine has a twist in that the predominate flavor was a grassy herbaciousness rather than citrus or melon. This was crisp and wonderful.
Our very accommodating  server wanted to be sure we tasted the 2007 Chardonnay as a bonus sixth selection. Rich and buttery.

The 2006 Cerise is a Pinot Noir and Lemberger blend that is peppery with a strong cherry flavor. (Cerise is French for cherry.) Drink this wine young.

The 2007 Pinot Noir was a complex and flavorful offering, but the stars of the tasting were the 2007 Cabernet Franc and the 2006 Meritage. The 2007 Cab Franc is the “vintage of the decade” according to our server. The nose was powerful and this is a great barbeque wine.

The superb Meritage is a Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. It shows layers of flavors with finesse. Flavor notes of blackberry, currants and pepper. As a sensational accompaniment, we sampled a chocolate truffle with the Meritage and the combination was a symphony for the taste buds.

Spiderman bagged a bottle of Meritage and I the Cab Franc was we headed through the rain to our next winery.

Dance Uncorked in Sylvania October 17

Catholic Charities will host Dance Uncorked, an evening with exceptional wines, exciting dance and outstanding silent auction items at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, October 17, at the St. Joseph Sylvania Family Center. Tickets are $75.

Six local celebrities will team up with 6 professional dancers from The Dance Clinic to perform a dance routine for guests. Each pair will perform one dance and will be judged by the audience based on performance.

Celebrity dancers of the evening include Marianne Ballas, President, Ballas Buick; Frank Barone, M.D., F.A.C.S; Sally Dandar, Content Director and News Reporter for GossipGirls.com; Sister Ann Carmen Barone, O.S.F.; Reverend Alan Zobler, O.S.F.S; and Robert Shiels, Chief Meteorologist at WTOL-TV.

For information, visit http://www.danceuncorked.com/ or call Cheryl at (419) 244-6711, Ext. 405.

Technorati Tags: Wine Tasting,Event,Sylvania