Meritage Challenge
Meritage is the North American equivalence to the Bordeaux classic blends. It was created as a marketing ploy by the Americans so that they could market blends of grapes. All Meritages must contain the three noble Bordeaux grapes: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. In Bordeaux, these grapes are mixed in various proportions, but the Meritage label implies that all three are there. It’s a marketing ploy so a Meritage label is not necessarily a sign of quality. VQA has licensed this label so there.
Our four combatants were: #1 Sanson Estates Barncat 2004
#2 Pelee Island Meritage 2003
#3 Mastronardi Estates Meritage 2006
#4 Stoney Ridge Founders Reserve Meritage 2003
#1 Sanson: chosen because I really like this wine and wanted a representative from the Harrow/MacGregor area. This wine is great. Balanced and skillful done.
#2 Pelee: this was the first wine that I enjoyed from this area. It was the start of my journey. I really thought this could be the winner
#3 Mastronardi: from the Ruthven area, Mastronardi has been producing some great wines. I was looking forward to this one and had real high hopes.
#4 Stoney Ridge: quite honestly, it was in my wine fridge and thats why I added it. I like Stoney Ridge wines, but Terry and I go there for the cheese shop more than the wines. This is a Reserve series and wasn’t that much (I think).
Not included: Sprucewood Meritage: very different from a standard Meritage as it is lighter in body. It is still very good, but I felt that it would be too easily identified.
Smith and Wilson Double Barrel. Stylistically similar to Barncat and since I had one non Meritage it was excluded. More than four wines would have been difficult.
Methodology: all four combatants were aligned on the top shelf of my wine fridge the day previous so temperature should have been the same. Cool, cellar temp but not cold nor room temp.
Numbers were applied by Myles while we were in the dining room. Four carafes were numbered, again by Myles so that there was a totally random nature to the carafe/wine interface. All wine was aerated thru my WMF stainless steel aeration funnel. I realize that the carafe may affect the wine. I apologize as I do not have 4 identical carafes, but I tried to keep them similar. Glassware was Rosenthal diVino series. Nothing special but good quality.
The wine was presented and samples were taken at random. The first wine was given a rating of 100 and the subsequent wines were rated relative to this. I gave each wine a score based on each reviewers relative ranking. Therefore a rating of 4 would imply that that wine was rated first by all 4 reviewers. Like golf the lower the score the better.
Tasting panel. Terry and I as usual. The guests were the suave and sophisticated ones. Both are excellent chefs with extensive wine tastings in Germany and here. Tom loves big reds and rieslings and Carolyn being a pastry chef has a good sense of taste.
When they arrived we had some Pinot Noir (Niagara Teaching College) and appetizers.
Music was fine and causal starting with Yael Naim (she does the Mac song) and then Robert Plant and Alison Krause. Good stuff.
RESULTS:
The results did truly confuse me. I miss-identified all the wines to what I thought the were. All were good and here are some comments.
#1 Sanson: mellow, hints of soil//wine has legs, very fresh fruity aroma, tannic, deep deep berries//dark red, medium body,light aroma//fresh nose, smooth!smooth!smooth!
#2 Pelee Island: mild, pucker power, nice body, acidic// wine has legs, very fresh,fruity aroma,very dry but nice, wee bit lighter than 1//dark red, light body, tangy//great nose, nice legs,very tannic, big and mouth, almost a bitter taste
#3 Mastronardi: citrus aroma, mild flavour, quite different//very dark neutral nose, very mild, not alot of flavour//light red, slight dryness, not much flavour, taste the dirt//beautiful nose!, awesome, so smooth!
#4 Stoney Ridge: full grape aroma, hints of red beet, pungent flavour//rich berry nose, deep red, great legs, very tannic,oak nice, deep dark fruit//mild flavour, fruity, full bodied, light, crystal sediment ( a good thing btw….my note)
RATINGS:
#1 Barncat 9
#2 Pelee Island 11
#3 Mastronardi 13
#4 Stone Ridge 6 WINNER!!
These results do confuse me. The women seem to taste different from the men. There is also a wide statistical variance that implies too much difference from first to fourth. Also the winner was not anticipated beforehand.
Dinner afterward was roast duck with french beans cooked in duck fat, asparagus and a potato gratin. Carolyn brought an awesome cake for desert.
Now with the meal all the wines went well. Terry went for the Mastronardi while Tom and I attacked the Stoney Ridge. All worked well. So the tasting may have been immaterial. I am not sure. If the purpose was to rate a wine rather than enjoy wine there was clear winner, BUT all were enjoyable.
In the macro sense I don’t think there was a clear winner. I believe wine is a total experience, with food, music and friends. The lack of ‘control’ causes the ratings to be moot. I am confused right now but like the blind methodology.
All in all an interesting event and all had a good time. Isn’t that the point.
