Community Tasting Note

• pkbowen Likes this wine: 87 points

  March 27, 2017 - Interesting blend of 7̶4̶%̶ ̶P̶i̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶i̶r̶,̶ ̶1̶4̶%̶ ̶C̶a̶b̶ ̶F̶r̶a̶n̶c̶,̶ ̶4̶%̶ ̶C̶a̶b̶e̶r̶n̶e̶t̶ ̶S̶a̶u̶v̶i̶g̶n̶o̶n̶,̶ ̶4̶%̶ ̶M̶a̶l̶b̶e̶c̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶4̶%̶ ̶M̶e̶r̶l̶o̶t̶. USD$20 from WTSO.
  
  EDIT 5/26/17: WTSO now says "74% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot."
  
  Night 1: Decanted a half bottle for a few minutes before enjoying from Burgundy stems. Nice, bright aromas if a bit simple, including cherry pie filling, damp wood, and touches of blackcurrant. Bright and acid-driven on the palate with concentration more on the Pinot noir end of the spectrum than a conventional Meritage (unsurprising, given the blend). Acid sticks out a bit. Tannins are quite fine and mouth-coating. Stored the second half under ArT18 for the second day.
  
  Night 2: Has gained depth on the nose with damp wood, struck matches, and brambly black cherries. Still seems to be oak-driven and lacking fruit concentration. Acid still sticking out on the palate. Tannins still present, though seeming more oaky than last night.
  
  This is an interesting wine that seems to suffer from low ripeness, extraction, or both, and a slight overuse of oak. All things considered, though, it was enjoyable and a reasonable value at USD$20. "Very good," 87/100.

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6 Comments

• smcilhen commented:

  4/10/17, 1:11 PM - Thanks for the good note/preview. FYI - I just received this wine from the winery today and the notes say it is a true Bordeaux blend (i.e. petite verdot, not pinot noir as you describe, so maybe a typo?).....no mention of the %s though.

• pkbowen commented:

  4/10/17, 1:44 PM - Interesting! WTSO had the blend I typed above, so that's the information I'm operating on. Did your spec sheet list all the other grapes, as well?
  
  FWIW - It certainly drank more like a Pn-based blend than PV; I would have been quite disappointed with this as a PV-based blend.
  
  Would be great if you could point out the discrepancy in your tasting note when you get around to this wine.

• BBinSC commented:

  4/15/17, 1:22 PM - I've wondered about this blend, too. It's my understanding that you can't use "Meritage" for non-Bordeaux blends.

• pkbowen commented:

  4/15/17, 1:31 PM - Agreed, that is certainly the case per convention. However, I haven't heard of 'meritage' being a regulated term in the US (so few things are). Where would one find out more about regulated terms?

• BBinSC commented:

  4/22/17, 5:27 AM - Check out http://www.meritagealliance.com/.

• pkbowen commented:

  5/26/17, 7:40 PM - WTSO now says "74% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot."

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