WTN /WineAdvisor: Winning claret

[Robin Garr]

Winning claret

What's a claret? It's an old name, rather British, for a red Bordeaux blend. Today let's take a look at an American version - a.k.a. Meritage - that was the people's choice in a recent tasting here.

Hahn Estates 2006 Central Coast Meritage Red Table Wine won a consumer taste-off among six "claret" wines - three Merlot-dominant Right Bank Bordeaux and three California Bordeaux blends - ranging in price from $18 (for this one) to $30-plus.

Even as the lowest-price wine of the group, the Hahn won "easily," said John Johnson, proprietor of The Wine Rack on Louisville's historic Frankfort Avenue, a shop that wins my affection for a small but eclectic collection and, mainly, for Johnson'a excellent knowledge of wine and food. It also bears the distinct advantage of being the only wine shop in the world that I can walk to from my home in five minutes.

Before we head for the tasting report, let's take a moment to refresh our memory on two relevant wine terms:

* Claret, as noted above, is an older term, originally British, for red wine, specifically Bordeaux. It likely stems from the French "Clairet" ("Cleh-RAY"), used in early times to distinguish the light, clear Bordeaux reds from their more dark and murky competition. Clairet has been resurrected in modern times, at least as a niche market, as a light, fruity and early-drinking Bordeaux available at modest prices. I haven't seen it outside France. But when you read or hear of "claret," you can assume that the topic is a Bordeaux-type red.

* Meritage is a modern English word, coined in a contest in the 1980s, intended as an American synonym for "Bordeaux blend" or even "claret." It's supposed to be prounced as an English word, to rhyme with "heritage," but just about everyone these days assumes it's a French word prounces "Mair-uh-tahzh," and even knowledgeable sommeliers often slip up. The concept has survived, and many wineries do register to use the name; but many more decline to participate, sticking with "Red Table Wine" or even "claret" or simply proprietary names.

As for the Hahn Meritage, it's easy to see why it was a crowd-pleaser. It offers up plenty of appetizing fruit, relatively restrained oak influence, and plenty of acidity and tannins for balance without harshness. Like so many modern California wines, its alcohol level is a bit frightening at 14.5%, but in fairness, the alcohol is well handled and doesn't come across as unpalatable heat.

Hahn Estates 2006 Central Coast Meritage Red Table Wine ($17.99)

Very dark garnet color with a deep reddish-violet edge. Good "claret" scents meld dark berries and tart cherries with a hint of Cabernet blackcurrant; oak adds hints of chocolate and vanilla, but they're subtle, not dominant. Mouth-filling cherry-berry fruit fills the palate, with ample acidity - not always a given in a Central Coast wine - soft tannins and just a hit of warmth from hefty but well-handled 14.5% alcohol. (Oct. 18, 2008)

FOOD MATCH: A bold wine that calls for robust flavors and finds them in lamb burgers made from natural Kentucky Dreamcatcher Farm lamb and lightly flavored with Indian spices and garlic..

VALUE: It demonstrates its quality as winner of a casual wine-shop tasting among wines that cost significantly more. Stands well above its competition for less than $20, but shop around, as it is widely discounted.

WHEN TO DRINK: The varietal content suggests ageworthiness, and the wine certainly has =sufficient structure to carry it for a few years in the cellar. Its accessible fruit suggests that it's really intended for early consumption, though. I'd drink it over the next five years or less, and then only assuming good cellar conditions.

WEB LINK:
For a fact sheet on Hahn Estates 2006 Meritage (and a button for ordering the wine online for $16 plus shipping where the law allows), click this long link:
http://www2.ibgcheckout.com/hahn/catalo ... 1&cat_id=1

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Hahn Estates Meritage on Wine-Searcher.com:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Hahn% ... g_site=WLP

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I had some of that modern Clairet last time I was in Brdx (2 yrs ago) and it was an eye opener. Very light, almost bright red wine - but with a Bordeaux nose and flavours. I liked it.

As for the "claret" taste off, I think there is a wide range of preferences, based on what I've seen at competitions. Since it was consumers, they tend to prefer sweeter wines, from my experience, or if they are experienced wine lovers who consider themselves experts, they tend to go for the biggest, juiciest but also tannic wines.

Me? I always go for the ones that taste like Bordeaux and would go well with food. Modest alcohol, dry, with that "pencil lead" nose. But I tend to be an oddball on judging panels because of this. Most seem to go for the Californian style fruit bombs.

PS That's the first I've heard of Meritage being pronounced that way. I've never heard that story. Cool. I always use the French pronunciation, as that is what I've heard most often in my job. Must be because I'm in Canada, eh?

[Jenise]

The concept has survived, and many wineries do register to use the name; but many more decline to participate, sticking with "Red Table Wine" or even "claret" or simply proprietary names.

It's been my observation that there are levels of quality implied by the choice of name. 'Meritage' is used to imply prestige and is often a winery's best offering. Many wineries, as you note, eschew it in favor of a proprietary name, and some wineries use nothing but their own name when that blend is all they make and prestiguous in its own right (like Opus One, Dominus). Whereas, the term Red Table Wine seems to be increasingly used to describe a more affordable red blend made from any variety of leftover wines that didn't make the cut for the more premium bottlings deserving of a varietal designation or worthy of it's own proprietary name because it will be a top wine made from more or less the same blend year in and year out (Coppola's Rubicon, say). But the most important distinction is that a RTW is not at all confined to the Bordeaux grape varieties as you imply. In Washington state you'll find just about anything in there but most particularly syrah because a lot of syrah's grown here, and in California's El Dorado region last week I tasted Red Table Wines anchored by zinfandel and petite syrah but also including many of the Italian grapes that are popular there now.

Robin,

Can you tell us a little more about the casual wine shop tasting event for this winning entry ? Was it a $20 and under grouping ? Was it placed in an easy-to-dominate field ?

I'm automatically set to ignore anything dubbed winner of a wine shop "consumer taste-off" anymore. I see nearly an unbroken pattern of easy drinking gluggers perform well in aggregated group tastings, at the expense of perhaps more interesting, more distinctive and more variably-scored wines.

I do value your thoughful review on its own merit, and value it more highly as well.

It's been my observation that there are levels of quality implied by the choice of name. 'Meritage' is used to imply prestige and is often a winery's best offering. Many wineries, as you note, eschew it in favor of a proprietary name, and some wineries use nothing but their own name when that blend is all they make and prestiguous in its own right (like Opus One, Dominus).

Jenise, that was a stipulation of the original Meritage Society rules, that the wine was expected to be a premium/premiere bottling from the winery.

Don't know if they've hewn to that original definition though, as I haven't checked up on the rules lately. Might have changed. Anyway, how do you impose "quality"?

Meritage never quite got established the way the Society intended it to, I think. And it's slipping further out of the immediate public consciousness, in part for reasons you described in your post. And as soon as you add some of that large volume of Syrah that's backing up in the warehouse into the blend, or course it ceases to be a Meritage.

[Robin Garr]

Jeff, I mentioned this briefly in the text, but it was easy to overlook: "six "claret" wines - three Merlot-dominant Right Bank Bordeaux and three California Bordeaux blends - ranging in price from $18 (for this one) to $30-plus."

This wine shop owner is a wine geek and an honest guy. He wouldn't participate in a setup.

Robin,

Can you tell us a little more about the casual wine shop tasting event for this winning entry ? Was it a $20 and under grouping ? Was it placed in an easy-to-dominate field ?

I'm automatically set to ignore anything dubbed winner of a wine shop "consumer taste-off" anymore. I see nearly an unbroken pattern of easy drinking gluggers perform well in aggregated group tastings, at the expense of perhaps more interesting, more distinctive and more variably-scored wines.

I do value your thoughful review on its own merit, and value it more highly as well.

[Robin Garr]

PS That's the first I've heard of Meritage being pronounced that way. I've never heard that story. Cool. I always use the French pronunciation, as that is what I've heard most often in my job. Must be because I'm in Canada, eh?

Can't say, Craig. Most wine geeks of my acquaintance are well aware of the correct pronunciation, simply because the whole point behind the competition was to come up with an "American" word, and as I recall, the rules of the contest specifically ruled out the use of foreign words including French. Of course, "Meritage" turned out to be a bad idea for the obvious reason, but yes, I'd be surprised to hear a M.S. (for example) being unaware of the way to pronounce it.

PS That's the first I've heard of Meritage being pronounced that way. I've never heard that story. Cool. I always use the French pronunciation, as that is what I've heard most often in my job. Must be because I'm in Canada, eh?

Can't say, Craig. Most wine geeks of my acquaintance are well aware of the correct pronunciation, simply because the whole point behind the competition was to come up with an "American" word, and as I recall, the rules of the contest specifically ruled out the use of foreign words including French. Of course, "Meritage" turned out to be a bad idea for the obvious reason, but yes, I'd be surprised to hear a M.S. (for example) being unaware of the way to pronounce it.

I say it both ways. We probably got the word by borrowing it, you know. It just kind of slid over here. I think out west (BC, Alberta) they say it like heritage. I'm east don't forget, and surrounded by French (my wife, for example) so I would have assumed it was a French word, and I don't recall my teacher (an American but now also Canadian) bothering to mention its origin in my Sommelier course, so I don't either. it seems unimportant. It is unimportant, isn't it? In any case, I'll correct it for future reference!

many words that should be pronoiunced with the English accent are done in French here, like the Bordeaux houses that have obvious British names and history (e.g. Talbot)

[Jenise]

It's been my observation that there are levels of quality implied by the choice of name. 'Meritage' is used to imply prestige and is often a winery's best offering. Many wineries, as you note, eschew it in favor of a proprietary name, and some wineries use nothing but their own name when that blend is all they make and prestiguous in its own right (like Opus One, Dominus).

Jenise, that was a stipulation of the original Meritage Society rules, that the wine was expected to be a premium/premiere bottling from the winery.

Yes I realize, which is why I thought it important to make the point that the way the term 'Red Table Wine' is used these days is not, in practice, though nothing says it couldn't be, another term for the same thing.

Meritage never quite got established the way the Society intended it to, I think. And it's slipping further out of the immediate public consciousness, in part for reasons you described in your post.

I was surprised to see it being used by so many new wineries in El Dorado last week, including something I've never seen before at one winery--a card one could help onesself to that had the names of other American wineries who also produce Meritages. Can't say I checked to assure that the blends were always correctly the five BDX varieties, though, and in looking back I feel doubtful. Miraflores produced a meritage, for instance, and though they do grow a small plot of cabernet expressly for that blend I don't recall seeing the other four grapes. Hmmm.

Regarding pronunciation and origin:

In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify hand-crafted wines blended from the traditional "noble" Bordeaux varietals including: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec or Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Sauvignon Vert. "Meritage," pronounced like "heritage," was selected from more than 6,000 entries in an international contest to name the new wine category. Meritage is an invented word that combines "merit" and "heritage" — reflecting the spirit of members of The Meritage Association.

From: http://www.meritagewine.org/.

Regarding pronunciation and origin:

In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify hand-crafted wines blended from the traditional "noble" Bordeaux varietals including: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec or Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Sauvignon Vert. "Meritage," pronounced like "heritage," was selected from more than 6,000 entries in an international contest to name the new wine category. Meritage is an invented word that combines "merit" and "heritage" — reflecting the spirit of members of The Meritage Association.

From: http://www.meritagewine.org/.

but meritaaaagggge sounds so much more classy