Meritage: I Thought You Knew

A couple of weeks ago on "Off The Vine with Benita and Terricinia", we were having a conversation all the while tasting some really nice wines from Hayes Valley Vineyards.  Recently, I went back and (bravely) listened to the show.  First let me apologize for the shenanigans and silliness.  We've warned you that if you want to learn anything from the show, you should tune in early because once we start, it goes down from there.  But on the more serious side, I heard myself mention that I was drinking a Meritage.  I said it with confidence and a conviction that everyone listening knew what I was talking about.  I said it with an unintentional arrogance.  So please forgive me for being a snob that one time.

So what is Meritage?  Meritage is a wine that is made of two or more of specific noble grapes of Bordeaux.  It can be either red or white. In making a Meritage, no grapes can comprise more than 90% of the blend.  If these specific qualities are not met, you got yourself some other blend but not a Meritage.  The name itself (rhymes with heritage) is made up of the word "merit" which reflects the quality of the grapes and "heritage" which represents tradition.  A Meritage does not have to be produced in France.  They are made all over the world. The one that I was drinking is from Central Coast (California).

There are a lot of wines and wine terms that are "givens" for what is actually in the bottle.  For instance, Pouilly- Fuisse is Chardonnay, Vouvray is Chenin Blanc, etc.  We know that because we've learned that.  We've learned that there are specific regions that produce wines from very specific grapes.  In most instances, the wines are named after the regions and not the grape.  I don't know about you, but I am starting to see more winemakers "dumb down" the labels to tell us exactly what's in the bottle.  For that, I am grateful.  I don't want every time that I drink wine to turn into a test of my memory of geography.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it!


Want to win a pair of tickets to a wine class?  Email me at thevinewineclub@gmail.com with the "noble" grapes that can be used to make a red Meritage.  The contest ends on September 18, 2015.  We will enter the correct responses in a drawing for two tickets to our "How To Taste Wine Like a Pro" class that takes place on October 1, 2015.

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Mixing it Up with Wine: My Lemon Drop

I don't drink wine all of the time.  I love a good cocktail.  One of my absolute favorites is the Lemon Drop Martini.  Normally made with vodka, my favorite variation includes a bit of Limoncello. Recently, I've tried to create a spin on the lemon drop using wine.  My friend Mel and I (and a secret taster) went into the lab to see what we could come up with that would resemble the lemon drop martini.  Immediately, we knew that we wanted our base to be Pinot Grigio.  On hand, we had one from Italy.  Pinot Grigio's from Italy are my personal favorite because they taste "clean" and not overly done.  The fruit is subtle but bright with hints of citrus rind.  Perfect for the lemon drop, I thought.  To about 2 ounces of Pinot Grigio, we added a half lemon squeezed and an ounce of simple syrup.  Of course, we didn't neglect the sugar rim!  Refreshing!

The beauty of using wines to make cocktails for me is that if you drink 4 or 5 of them, it is equivalent to about 2 glasses of wine.  Wine cocktails are perfect conversation sippers and are often times less expensive than using liquors and spirits.  I won't lie to you and tell you that it is a perfect substitution but it is a very close "cousin" of the original.

Recipe:

2 oz Ilauri Pinot Grigio (Can be found at The Vine Wine Club)
1 Half Freshly Squeezed Lemon
1 oz Simple Syrup (or sweeten to your personal taste)

Shake over ice and pour in a sugar-rimmed martini glass.

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You Ready?  February 2016.

All This Time, I've Been Saying that I Don't Like Chardonnay

How can one grape taste so doggone different?  Well let me just tell you about my evolution.  I remember years ago when I started this life long lesson into wine, I couldn't stand Chardonnay.  My first experience was one that was over done in American Oak, giving me the mouthful of butter, making me long for a piece of toasted bread.  I remember it coating my tongue and making it very difficult to taste the next wine in the tasting order.  I remember the brand (but I won't say the name...but you wine folks will know it because it was the hottest brand selling back in the early 2000's). After that, I swore off Chardonnay.  As I continued to countless tastings, I would always skip the popular white wine.  I frequented the same wine shop every Friday so the owner got to know me quite well.  She noticed one day at a wine dinner that I always avoided Chards when she offered them.  Finally, she asked why.  At the dinner, she had a Chardonnay that she explained had been fermented in stainless steel.  My first thought was why would it matter.  Pleasantly surprised, this time I recognized more green apple and that it was quite a bit more acidic than the Chardonnays that I had come to know.  Okay, so I like steel fermented Chardonnays.  A few weeks later, I asked my server at a restaurant if the Chardonnay that I was about to select was oak or steel fermented.  He told me that it was French Oak. I guess that befuddled look on my face told a story that I had no clue what that meant.  Fortunately, he read me and offered me a taste before I made the commitment of buying a glass.  He explained that the French Oak wouldn't impart the buttery notes that the American Oak would.  What I found for myself was that I still got the green apple but it was softer.  The wine felt almost round in my mouth.  Hmmm, I liked this French Oak fermented Chardonnay.  Up until this point, almost all of the Chardonnay that I had tasted had come from California.  So imagine my surprise when I realized that this white wine that I was drinking from France was called Burgundy, and it was Chardonnay.  Wait a minute!  Everything that I knew (which wasn't much apparently) about burgundy was that it was a color in the red family so of course a Burgundy has to be red.  I had no clue that Burgundy was a region that produced some of the best grown Chardonnay in the world.  These white grapes from Burgundy, fermented in French oak changed my mind.  I love Chardonnay!  I had to share my experience through a wine class where I only featured Chardonnay just to show my friends who were still novices at the time that the process makes the difference.  And all this time that I've been saying that I don't like Chardonnay....clueless!

Hit us up on Facebook at The Vine Wine Club if you're interested in a Chardonnay Tasting Tour Class. Follow my evolution with friends!

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Benita

Tune in every Friday at 3:00 to "Off The Vine with Benita and Terricinia" at May We Help You Radio Network

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