Meritage, pronounced like “heritage” with an M, is a name for Bordeaux-style blends that come from regions other than Bordeaux.
This one comes from Robert Mondavi Private Selection. I think it’s a safe assumption for me to figure that you’ve heard of Robert Mondavi. The company has a number of different tiers in their wine portfolio and the Robert Mondavi Private Selection (RMPS) is one of the lower-priced tiers.
This meritage is made from 33% cabernet sauvignon, 32% merlot, 27% malbec, 7% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. And although there’s only 1% petit verdot I always say that petit verdot makes a red blend better.
The grapes for this wine come from the Central Coast region in California and primarily (99%) from Monterey County.
This wine starts off with dense plum, black cherry and blackberry scents on the nose, coupled with plenty of spicy aromatics like nutmeg, cinnamon and cedar. The palate is tasty with rich black cherry and blackberry flavors, providing plenty of fruit. There’s also some chocolate flavors. The acidity is good and a touch of tannins give a touch of texture to the wine. The oak comes on a little heavy on the finish.
Overall, this is a pretty good wine and when you factor in the price, it’s a great wine. I was much more impressed with this one than the 2010 vintage.
Wine: Robert Mondavi Private Selection Meritage
Variety: Meritage red blend
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 87
Price: $11.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
I’ve been writing about a couple wines from Soave lately and here’s another one that pretty good.
Like most Soave, this one is made from 100% garganega. It’s one of the brands from Cantina Di Soave.
The thing that really makes this wine stand out is how aromatic it is. There’s a floral quality on the nose that is just delightful. It’s one of those wines that I spend more time sniffing than tasting, although it tastes pretty darn good too.
Peach, violet, pear and melon aromas give this wine its pleasant and striking nose. The palate is very dry, with light peach, pear and mineral flavors. It finishes with flavors of honeydew melon drizzled with citrus. This is a very light, but pleasant wine.
Wine: Rocca Sveva Soave Classico
Variety: Garganega
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $16.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Here is another Soave that’s worth checking out. This one comes from Cantina Di Soave under their ReMidas brand.
It’s made from 100% garganega grapes and is, of course, from the Veneto region in Italy — where the Soave DOC is located.
I know this is a scent description that annoys some people, but I have to say this wine is “round” on the nose. What I mean by that is the sensation generated by the aromas in this wine is one that stimulates the outer edges of your nasal cavity. You literally feel the scent in a full, round way — as opposed to some wines that have a very narrow scent profile that only stimulates the center of the nasal cavity.
Getting back to more familiar terms, the aromatics are reminiscent of pear, melon and peach. On the palate, the flavors match the aromas — pear, melon and peach — and are presented with a creamy mouthfeel and good acidity. The finish is fairly long and features mostly melon flavors.
I can tell you from experience that this wine pairs fantastically with sliced tomatoes topped with buffalo mozzarella and pesto.
Wine: Cantina Di Soave, ReMidas Soave
Variety: Garganega
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 12%
Rating: 87
Price: $10.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Like many Italian wines, the Soave name represents both the region and the style of wine. The Soave region is in North Eastern Italy, around the city of Verona. Soave the wine is made primarily from the garganega grape. It’s often 100% garganega, but sometimes includes small amounts of trebbiano, chardonnay or pinot bianco.
Bolla, the producer of this wine, has a long history in Italy and as of 2009 became owned by Gruppo Italiano Vini — the largest wine producer in Italy. Banfi, another big name in Italian wine, is the distribution partner for the US.
If you do much wine shopping, you’ve probably seen Bolla wines on the shelves. They produce a number of different wines, but Soave was their first, back in 1883.
Another note in history associated with this wine is related to Frank Sinatra. It was said that Sinatra would not sit in a restaurant that didn’t have Soave Bolla on the menu.
Caramelized pear, honeysuckle and lemon aromas give this wine a nice nose. The palate is a little on the heavy side for a white, with dense pear, apple and peach flavors. It’s a medley of stone fruits. I would have liked a bit more acidity, but I wouldn’t call it flabby. The floral notes make a reprise on the finish, where they linger for a good long time.
Wine: Bolla Classico Soave
Variety: Soave
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 85
Price: $8.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Bolla Classico Soave with Snooth
Pinot grigio is one of those wines that some people love and other love to hate. But it’s also a wine that comes to life in a couple different styles. So I think wine lovers who think they don’t like pinot grigio may have just not tried the right one yet.
I generally like pinot grigio that is bone dry and focused on citrus and mineral qualities. But some pinot grigio offers a lot more complexity and more stone fruit or tropical fruit characteristics. This is one of those wines.
Geyser Peak is a pretty big producer, based in Sonoma County, California. They’re best known for their wine production from the Alexander Valley in Sonoma. But the appellation for this particular wine is just “California.” Meaning the grapes are likely from a few different vineyards in different appellations.
A harmonious bouquet of orange blossom, apple, nectarine and melon aromatics give this wine a very pleasant nose. It has a touch of tropical too, which might make you think it’s a sauvignon blanc at first sniff. The palate is very well balanced and offers apple, nectarine and melon flavors with just enough acidity to brighten it up. The finish is medium-long with citrus, apple and mineral flavors.
This is an easy wine to find, reasonably priced and it delivers a lot of flavor compared to most cheap pinot grigio. In short, it’s a killer wine.
Wine: Geyser Peak
Variety: Pinot grigio
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 90
Price: $12.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Like many European wine producers, Balthasar Ress has a long history dating back to the late 1800’s. Before beginning wine production, there were several generations of butchers in the Ress family. And even today the Metzgerei Ress butcher shop exists in Hattenheim, a small town along the Rhine river in the Rheingau region of Germany. Balthasar Ress was one of the butchers in the family, who got into the hotel business when he founded Gasthof Ress in 1870. It was then that the family started to produce its own wine, which it sold at the hotel under the name “Von Unserm” which translates to mean “our own.”
Today the winery is into its fifth generation of proprietorship by the family and the Von Unserm brand is still in use. The Von Unserm riesling is a dry style of riesling and it’s fantastic.
Flint and flower dominate the nose of this wine, giving it a deep and cool aromatic profile. The palate is also quite mineral-esque but also offers some lemon-drizzled green apple flavors. It’s very dry and the acidity is stellar. The finish offers tart apples and a touch of salt. Fans of dry riesling with love this wine.
Wine: Balthasar Ress, Von Unserm
Variety: Riesling
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 12%
Rating: 89
Price: $18.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Here’s a quick sauvignon blanc review.
Casablanca Valley in Chile is one of my favorite regions in the world for sauvignon blanc. It’s a cool-climate region that produces crisp, tropical sauvignon blanc. And the value of the wines produced there can’t be beat.
This one from Albamar showcases some of what makes sauvignon blanc from this region so tasty.
Grapefruit and pineapple dominate the aromatics on this wine, giving it a nice, tropical flavor. The palate is tart and citrusy, offering lemon, grapefruit, melon and mineral flavors. The mineral really comes out on the finish, which has a slight saltiness. This is a good sauvignon blanc.
Wine: Albamar
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $12.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
I’m starting to sound like a broken record when I say that Chile is a great region for good wine values. I say this realizing that some readers under 30 may not know what the “broken record” analogy means. This makes the generation gap painfully obvious to me.
A little side story about generation gaps… A couple months ago we had a training at the office where I work about how to use the phone system because some of the younger folks in the office had never used a “land line” phone. Oh my, how things have changed in the past 20 years.
And another thing that has changed in the past 20 years is the quality of the wine coming out of Chile. The region has invested heavily in modernizing winemaking practices and equipment, and the results are fantastic.
This cabernet sauvignon comes from the Colchagua Valley, which is one of my favorite Chilean regions for this variety. Although I’ve noticed that many Chilean red wines will show a minty aroma, which can be a turn off when it’s too intense. This wine, fortunately, doesn’t have that.
The nose on the Calcu cabernet sauvignon smells good, but it still doesn’t have a real “wow factor.” It shows some blackberry, currant, black olive and toasted oak aromas, which seem well balanced, but rather predictable. The palate is where this wine totally rocks. It does have a “wow factor” to it. The acidity is spot on, the mouthfeel is good, and the fruit flavors are abundant. It offers rich blackberry and currant flavors with a good bit of spice, like black pepper. The finish is super long, with vibrantly acidic berry flavors lingering on your tongue.
Wine: Calcu
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 87
Price: $14.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
I’m a big fan of sangiovese, but I’m also a little prejudiced with a preference toward Italian sangiovese. I particularly like sangiovese via Brunello di Montalcino (which usually doesn’t qualify as a “cheap” wine). I don’t rule out the possibility that other regions can do good things with sangiovese, but Italy has much more experience with it. And since the grape is native to Italy, I feel like it’s best when it’s grown there.
At the same time, I’m quite curious when I come across sangiovese from other regions. I want to see how the grape expresses itself when grown in other regions. And that’s why I was excited when I saw this Argentine sangiovese from Tercos.
How did it measure up? It’s not what I would expect from a sangiovese, but it’s good in its own way.
This wine is loaded with spice notes, such as nutmeg and cedar. It also shows plenty of strawberry and black currant on the nose. Plus there’s a touch of chocolate in there too. The palate is fairly fruit-forward, offering cherry, currant and strawberry flavors with a touch of spice. The tannins are moderate, although the bitter of them hangs on the finish. The acidity is good too.
Like I said, this isn’t what I would typically look for in a Sangiovese, it’s a bit more fruit-forward and doesn’t have the perfume/floral notes I typically find in a good Italian sangiovese. But this is still an enjoyable wine.
Wine: Tercos
Variety: Sangiovese
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.3%
Rating: 85
Price: $13.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
In America, we love to celebrate entrepreneurs. Our modern day heroes are people who start businesses in their garages and transform them into successful enterprises. But not all of those garage-bound creators are technology nerds. There are plenty of stories in the wine industry of producers who just started making wine in their garage or basement and followed their dreams. Wild Horse Winery is one of those stories.
They say that they created their first wine in a plastic tub as a part of a senior project at Cal Poly. That project inspired them to pursue a dream. In 1981, they purchased their first vineyards in the Central Coast which resulted in their first official wines a couple years later, a pinot noir and a cabernet sauvignon.
Wild Horse has cabernet sauvignon in its roots. And while other parts of California, like Napa Valley, get a lot of hype for their cabernet sauvignon, the Central Coast is a great region for this varietal — and a particularly great region cabernet sauvignon with an exceptional quality-to-price ratio.
Big black cherry aromas are the dominant feature on the nose of this cabernet sauvignon, there’s also plenty of clove, black currant and chocolate. The palate is built on stellar acidity, offering black cherry, plum and blackberry flavors up front, evolving into dark chocolate and cherry toward the notably-long finish. This is a very tasty wine.
While the suggested retail price is $20, I’ve seen it in some places for closer to $15 — which is a great price for this wine!
Wine: Wild Horse Winery & Vineyards, Central Coast
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 87
Price: $20.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
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