Vintage 2019

[CDrew]

Primitivo-Dang, this is a good wine already. It's only 1 year old but already approachable. Could drink with dinner now. Wife likes it. So far, at 1 year, this is the best of the bunch. Definitely will be a mid week go-to after another year in the bottle. Interesting it's very well balanced tannin/acid/alcohol without being 1 dimensional. I have high hopes for this one. I'll drink and share. Just for reference, aged in a stainless steel 15.5 gallon keg for the full year.

I'm tasting the 2019 Primitivo tonight. It's a huge win. A couple of months after bottling it's over the bottle shock and actually very, very good. Some of the best wine I've made. It's still on the young side but very good now. In a year, I'm expecting great. Anyway, very happy with this wine. If I can make wine this good every year, I'll be happy. I almost can't say how much I value one of our friends with this Primitivo vineyard. It's so consistently excellent. "The grapes make the wine" and there's no better example than this.

 

[JohnT]

In a year? the trick is to still have some in a year.

 

[CDrew]

In a year? the trick is to still have some in a year.

Yeah-that's the truth. However, I'm pretty disciplined about this and have 1 case set aside for the first year in the bottle and monthly tastings. So at 2 years old, I should still have 5 cases. Then if it's still as good, I'll drink and give away the rest away over the next year or three.

 

[CDrew]

In the wine closet, I still had a 6 gallon Mixed carboy of Primitivo, Tempranillo and a bit of Syrah. Plus a 3 gallon carboy of Primitivo. The expedient thing was to mix up a Meritage and bottle. So it's truly the leftovers. I netted almost 4 cases (2 bottles short).

Primitivo-----50%
Tempranillo--45%
Syrah---------5%

First pic is wine being vacuum racked into the Intellitank for bottling, and the second pic is the result.

Tasted a bit-it's a nice wine, but the tempranillo definitely lightened the body a bit. Nice acid punch from the Primitivo, so I think the Meritage is a winner in 2021 and 2022. This is very lightly oaked so the flavors are all from the grapes.

 

[sour_grapes]

In the wine closet, I still had a 6 gallon Mixed carboy of Primitivo, Tempranillo and a bit of Syrah. Plus a 3 gallon carboy of Primitivo. The expedient thing was to mix up a Meritage and bottle. So it's truly the leftovers. I netted almost 4 cases (2 bottles short).

Primitivo-----50%
Tempranillo--45%
Syrah---------5%

First pic is wine being vacuum racked into the Intellitank for bottling, and the second pic is the result.

Tasted a bit-it's a nice wine, but the tempranillo definitely lightened the body a bit. Nice acid punch from the Primitivo, so I think the Meritage is a winner in 2021 and 2022. This is very lightly oaked so the flavors are all from the grapes.

Sounds like a nice blend! But why are you calling it a Meritage? It has NONE of the grapes in a Meritage. (Meritage is a made-up, but trademarked wine industry name for a US-made blend of traditional Bordeaux varieties.)

 

[CDrew]

Sounds like a nice blend! But why are you calling it a Meritage? It has NONE of the grapes in a Meritage. (Meritage is a made-up, but trademarked wine industry name for a US-made blend of traditional Bordeaux varieties.)

I'm trying to call it something made up after just throwing all the left overs together. I could call it a blend, but it's what I had left, so, a meritage. LOL. It actually tastes good already. But it's 100% what I have left from 2019. So all the 2019 is in the bottle, to be tasted and consumed 2021+. Seriously. there's no pretense here. Just what's still there needing to be bottled. But it tastes better than you might expect.

 

[sour_grapes]

I could call it a blend, but it's what I had left, so, a meritage.

You're not thinking of a "melange," by any chance, are you?

Meritage is supposedly a portmanteau of "merit" and "heritage." Totally invented marketing term.

 

[CDrew]

Mourvedre-Also if you read this far, you know I tossed 10 gallons of this that was fermented with RP15 that was just not good. The remaining 15 gallons (which has about 2 gallons of Primitivo and 1.5gallons of Syrah mixed in) is very good. Tastes like a Mourvedre. Not as dark as some of the ones I've had from California and Spain but similar to Chilean Mourvedre wines. Very subtle oak (a win!), moderate tannin, I think it's good in a year. It's actually pretty good now. This wine was definitely a problem child during fermentation, so happy I'll at least have a decent wine out of it. Actually 2 decent wines because the 2019 Mourvedre Rose is drinking pretty well now.

I had not tasted this Mourvedre in several months. We are having it tonight with some pork chops. It's much better than I remembered. It won't get poured down the storm drain like the other 10 gallons. It's actually better than I expected. But this wine has had serious flaws. Not sure if it was me, or the grapes, but this wine just was not it. Glad that's it's getting better and pretty good now.

 

[CDrew]

And now drinking the Syrah from 2019. It's really good. Still young, in the sense it's still fruity, but the tannins are softer now and the wine itself is sound. I still have 4.5 cases. It should be good for years.

But, dang, the 2019 Mourvedra remains a disappointment. I have 4 more cases. I am considering just pouring it out, and using the bottles to finishing up the 2020 bottling.

 

[buzi]

And now drinking the Syrah from 2019. It's really good. Still young, in the sense it's still fruity, but the tannins are softer now and the wine itself is sound. I still have 4.5 cases. It should be good for years.

But, dang, the 2019 Mourvedra remains a disappointment. I have 4 more cases. I am considering just pouring it out, and using the bottles to finishing up the 2020 bottling.

 

[buzi]

How about we just have Mouvedre party at the Crew household?!? Just kidding. Mouvedre is a tough grape to vint. I haven't tasted my Mouvedre that I made in 2020 with avante. I am a bit scared to.