Long
Island Wine Country. COM
MERITAGE™ WINE BLENDING CLASS
Wine
Blending Course- (select tours only) $45 surcharge.
We will work with an award-winning winemaker to learn
about the art of wine blending. All
participants get to create one bottle of custom blended
Wine (value $55-75). We will provide a custom wine label
& certificate of course completion.
Bordeaux blended wines are made with two or more of the
traditional Bordeaux grape varieties. The main Bordeaux
red grapes are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere,
Malbec, Merlot and Petite Verdot. In the United States,
such blends are often referred to as Meritage wines, providing
they meet certain requirements.
The
following description is published by: Copyright ©
2009 Meritage Alliance All Rights Reserved
In
1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage
Association (now The Meritage Alliance) to identify and
promote handcrafted wines blended from the traditional
“noble” Bordeaux varieties.
Historically,
most New World wines are labeled after the grape variety
that comprises at least 75% of that wine. A label
with “Cabernet Sauvignon,” for example, indicates
that the wine is made from a minimum of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon
grapes.
Many
winemakers, however, believe the varietal requirements
do not necessarily result in the highest quality wine.
The pioneers in this movement created the term “Meritage”
to identify wines that represent the highest form of the
winemaker’s art — blending — and distinguish
these wines from the more generic moniker, “red
table wine.”
“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 quality of the grapes and the ancient
art of blending wine.
 |
Wine
blending participant. Photo © 2009 by Christopher
J. Davies |
For
additional information about the Meritage Alliance visit:
http://www.meritagewine.org/home
Please
note that the following Long Island wineries are members
of the Meritage Alliance:
CASTELLO
DI BORGHESE
Cutchogue NY
631-734-5111
www.castellodiborghese.com
LAUREL
LAKE VINEYARDS
Laurel NY
631-298-1420
www.llwines.com
LIEB
FAMILY CELLARS
Cutchogue, NY
631-734-1100
www.liebcellars.com
OSPREY'S
DOMINION VINEYARDS LTD.
Peconic NY
631-765-6188
www.ospreysdominion.com
PINDAR
VINEYARDS
Peconic NY
631-734-6200
www.pindar.net
