Hi Gary, Glad to see you’re back.

Loved the episode as usual and will definitely look into picking up one of these in the near future.

A quick question. Does “meritage” have any specific varietals that make it up or does it just mean Bordeaux-style wine not from France?

Kevin, see http://www.meritagewine.org for information on meritage blends. For reds, it can be 2 or more of the following varieties with no single variety making up more than 90% of the blend : Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, St. Macaire, Gros Verdot, and Carmenere. For whites, it can be Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Sauvignon Vert. Again nothing more than 90%. I’m not affiliated with the association, just a fan of meritages.

Hey Kevin,

I’m sure Gary will answer this, as well, but their are no specific varietals, but it generally a Meritagte is the New World name for the combination of 2 or more of the following: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec( the Bordeaux varietals )……………and sometimes you can even find them with Syrah, Mourvedre, Tempranillo, Carignan, Garnacha ( Grenache ), Sangiovese, or Nebbiolo in the mix, as well. It was just a name that California winemakers came up with to make their wines sound a little more fancy.

Great to have you back Gary! No worries on the missed episodes.
I really look forward to the upcoming Spain show.

Kevin, Red Meritage (pronounced like “heritage”) can be made of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, St. Macaire, Gros Verdot, and Carmenere. No single variety may make up more than 90 percent of the blend. See http://www.meritagewine.org.

Gary, I ordered some of the Merlot, and I am interested to see how it compares to a decent Pomerol. As you know, you can actually buy an 88-90pt Pomerol (obviously not Petrus, Le Pin or Trotanoy) for not that much more than this price.

Welcome back! Look forward to the Spanish segments. Is it true that ’05 in Spain was as fabulous as in France?

Sam yes the 05’s look amazing but the 04’s were showing so well it was stunning!

The Maghie Merlot is thoroughly enjoyable and, you are right, I would have picked it in a blind tasting as coming from the right bank rather than Washington. Nice stuff, though I think you can still get some Cru Bourgeois from ’00 for a better QPR.

Gary, great info. Just saw the Spain episode. Exceptional!!! Had to e-mail the episode to my wife who is a fan of Spanish guitar. Keep up the great work. I never knew that getting educated was so much fun.

Gary…I never heard of Woodhouse before this episode.

Steve…that is a fantastic link, one that goes into my favorites for others to see when they ask…thanks!

B

I am glad that you decited to do an episode focusing on Washington Wines. While I am biased, beause I am from Seattle, I KNOW that Washington produces some fine (and I mean like fiiine) wines.

I am sure you are packed with plans when you come back, but I for one would really love, and appreciate, an episode focusing on Washington wines. You could consiter focusing on a region (like Walla Walla) or doing a hodge-podge of fines from around the state (dont forget deLille). Well, good luck, I hope you get this, and send some love over to your fans in the North West.

cheers,
Joel

ps. I am sipping a Walla Walla Vinters cuvee right now, and its amazing.

So- how is that taping things to have on file going?

I have gotta explore Washington…need to get to the states though to do it.

Go Washington Wines!!! Have you tasted many wines from the Red Mountains in WA? They have some excellent varieties there. The grapes love that area. I don’t know of a specific label off hand, but I can dig one up for you and share it with you.

Can you imagine if you were gone that long now?

word 46 “NJ,”

Would love to see review of Preston Wines from Washington State and Alice White Lexia (which seems to be a local favorite). Years ago we could buy Preston in the supermarkets in Washington.

jean in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont

You keep this up Gary, I almost won’t have to look for new wines on my own anymore. You are the first person I’ve heard from on the Woodhouse winery. I’d bet that if you did a vin jaune or charbono tasting you’d be giving alot of people their first exposure to those as well.

Never heard of any of these…but they sure sound good. http://www.winelx.com