Red Meritage blend percentages

[heatherd]

All,

I am planning to make a red meritage, and will soon have each of the following on hand in the quantities indicated:
-Chilean cabernet sauvignon, 5g
-Chilean malbec, a few bottles
-Petit verdot, 5g
-Cabernet franc, 5g

Has anyone created a blenc they liked or tasted a good commercial one and known the proportions? I will do my own research as well, but wanted to reach out to the winemakers here.

A meritage, according to one guy who makes them:
"A Meritage blend is a traditional blend of the major Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. You don’t have to use them all – the guideline is that no one variety can make up more than 90% of the blend. We’ve enjoyed using all five so far. Deciding on proportions depends upon your goal. If you want to make a big, beefy style of wine, probably Cabernet Sauvignon will dominate the blend. If you’re looking for elegance, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are good candidates. With Malbec and Petit Verdot a little goes a long way. Single digit percentages of those varieties will have a big impact on the color, body and spice."

Thanks in advance,
Heather

 

[sour_grapes]

As I have posted elsewhere, I often mix up a "Pan-American Meritage" out of commercial wines. Generally, I use two bottles of Cab Sauv., 1 bottle of Merlot, and 2 bottles of Caremenere. (The source you quoted seems to have forgotten about Carmenere as a Bordeaux varietal.) I enjoy this a lot.

 

[heatherd]

Thanks Paul, I will do a bench test of that combo.
Heather

 

[sour_grapes]

I wouldn't seek out a Carmenere just on my say so. Carmenere is rather similar to Merlot. I don't think you can go wrong blending up Meritage blends, personally!

Generally, most people who use Petit Verdot use only small percentages, as your source has said. In agreement with your source, a winemaker once told me "Petit Verdot is like garlic: it will enhance your wine, but a little goes a long way."

Many blends are something like 70% Cab Sav, 25% Merlot, 5% PV, or, say, 60% Merlot, 30% Cab Sav, 10% PV. Personally, I love the idea of getting the lesser-used Cab Franc, Malbec, and Carmenere in there, too. (Perhaps I am just a contrarian! )

Best of luck!

 

[pjd]

I have a 25% Carmenere, 25% Malbec, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot that I absolutely love! Carmenere adds something that i have not found in any other grape. I can pick it out in any blend.

 

[Calamity Cellars]

Meritage is a proprietary term that is only supposed to be used by members of the Meritage Alliance. Of course, as a home winemaker, they will not make any attempt to stop you from using the word on your labels but if you are commercial I would be very wary. A friend of mine received a cease and desist letter from their attorney and was required to relabel a 100 case lot if he refused to join their alliance (for a fee of course.) He paid to join long enough to sell of the wine then dropped his membership and doesn't label his Bordeaux Red Blend with that word any more.

Here is a link to their page describing the Meritage Blend. Notice no percentages are give or recommended other than no single grape can make up greater than 90% of the blend. http://www.meritagealliance.com/what-is-meritage/red-meritage/

 

[JohnT]

I make one that is 50% cab franc, 30% merlot, and 20% cabernet sav.

I have found that this combo really works well...

My opinion is that the cab franc provides a great backbone, the merlot provides a good depth of body, and the cab brings it's own refined flavor to the party.

 

[heatherd]

Thanks - that sounds tasty too. I won't have merlot made at the time so will likely swap Malbec for it. But these percentages are helpful!

 

[REDRUM]

So Meritage is a term which was concocted to describe a Bordeaux blend, while avoiding references to Bordeaux itself (as a protected designation of origin). And it's a proprietary name so can only be used under license? Interesting....

 

[Calamity Cellars]

So Meritage is a term which was concocted to describe a Bordeaux blend, while avoiding references to Bordeaux itself (as a protected designation of origin). And it's a proprietary name so can only be used under license? Interesting....

Yep.

And...Most people say it wrong. It doesn't rhyme with garage it is said like the word heritage with an m at the beginning.


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[Rocky]

The skeptic in me says that "meritage" came about because some wine makers did not have enough of any one variety to make a large batch so they blended what they had and gave it a fancy name.

 

[JohnT]

Meritage is a proprietary term that is only supposed to be used by members of the Meritage Alliance. Of course, as a home winemaker, they will not make any attempt to stop you from using the word on your labels but if you are commercial I would be very wary. A friend of mine received a cease and desist letter from their attorney and was required to relabel a 100 case lot if he refused to join their alliance (for a fee of course.) He paid to join long enough to sell of the wine then dropped his membership and doesn't label his Bordeaux Red Blend with that word any more.

Here is a link to their page describing the Meritage Blend. Notice no percentages are give or recommended other than no single grape can make up greater than 90% of the blend. http://www.meritagealliance.com/what-is-meritage/red-meritage/

I have heard the same thing that they are VERY protective about the title "Meritage", but this is only within the commercial sector. As a home winemaker, one that is not marketing wine, I doubt that you are at any kind of risk. If it truly worries you, the fee (I believe) is 1$ per case.

 

[heatherd]

From what I understand, US wine makers making Bordeaux found their hands tied because the French had legally protected the wines, similar to champagne. They wanted to be able to make a blend that wasn't considered low-quality "table wine." Also they wanted the acceptable varietals and proportions to have flexibility for the winemaker. That said, seems like a way to make a blend exclusive, and be able to charge more for it commercially.
Heather


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[Calamity Cellars]

From what I understand, US wine makers making Bordeaux found their hands tied because the French had legally protected the wines, similar to champagne. They wanted to be able to make a blend that wasn't considered low-quality "table wine." Also they wanted the acceptable varietals and proportions to have flexibility for the winemaker. That said, seems like a way to make a blend exclusive, and be able to charge more for it commercially.
Heather


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Precisely.


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[REDRUM]

Yep.
Here, a free-trade agreement that Australia signed with the EU in the early 1990s has meant that a whole lot of location-based terms that used to be used generically (like 'champagne', 'burgundy', 'hermitage' etc) are now off-limits.
For table wines, this mostly means using grape varietals in naming instead (shiraz, pinot noir, etc).
In the case of specific wine styles ('sherry', 'port', 'tokay', etc), the industry has come up with replacement terms - 'topaque' for tokay, 'vintage', 'ruby' etc for port, 'apera' for sherry, and so on.