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Buyer’s Guide to Vintages January 10th Release


Annual Smart Buys; The Recipe for Value, and Crozes Hermitage in the Spotlight By John Szabo MS, with notes from David Lawrason, Michael Godel, Sara d’Amato and Megha Jandhyala “Smart Buys” is the Vintages January 10 release theme, the focus of the first release of the year for as long as I can remember. There […] More

The Wine Thieves: Crozes Hermitage In Conversation with Daphné Chave & David Combiere


Its’ syrah-o’clock somewhere and the Wine Thieves are back to unlock the secrets of the northern Rhone’s largest appellation where syrah takes many shapes: Crozes-Hermitage. But it’s really a tale of two crozes, two very distinct parts. There’s what growers refer to as the northern half of Crozes-Hermitage to the north of the imposing hill […] More

Buyer’s Guide to Vintages December 20th Release


Cramming for Christmas By David Lawrason, with notes from John Szabo MS, Michael Godel, Sara d’Amato and Megha Jandhyala We tasted a day early, gathered our picks a day early, and wrote and proofed this newsletter a day early — all so we could publish three days earlier than normal and give you more time […] More

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Meritage

Meritage is pronounced Meh-rih-TIJ, rhyming with Heritage. This is a made-up word, registered as a US trademark, that wineries must pay to use on their wines. Back in 1989, wineries were all choosing names for their various blended wines, and it was getting hard to keep track of them all. An association was formed to try to define a "Bordeaux Blend" of grapes that was done on non-French soil. They had over 6,000 people submit choices for the name of this blend, and "Meritage" won. Just like Bordeaux, since they're made with the same grapes, Meritage wines tend to have a rich, full aroma. Depending on the particular blend, it can be blackberry, black cherry, spices, chocolate, and vanilla. Most Meritages have the Bordeaux signature flavours - cigar box, rich fruits, with a hefty feel. They're great with a steak, or with game meats - venison, pheasant etc.