NorthBay biz explores the history of Meritage wines and gives readers a peek at the future plans of the Meritage Alliance.

But winegrowers—the best of the lot grow their own grapes and make their wines from those heavily invested in grapes—are, by nature, risk takers. They’re creators of the best kind, taking something that grows naturally from the earth and transforming it into something that gives pleasure and health in equal parts. And, as Louis Martini taught us those many years ago (and those who were listening with an open ear and an even more open and inviting palate heard him), blended wines offer us the chance to taste wines of greater interest, complexity, character and depth. They are, in short, better wines.

Ah, but how to market these better wines? What do you do with them on the restaurant wine list? Where do you place them on already crowded retail shelves? It was a question of placement, of identity. Does the term “Miscellaneous Red” float your boat? “White Table Wine”? Nah.

One hates to point to the French as having a better means of framing a question, but the answer was staring us in the face in the form of the oldest, most defined table wines the world has known. In a word, Bordeaux. Where, for centuries, vignerons have artfully blended wines, both red and white, to give the best expression those gravel-laden soils have to offer.

You know the classic blends. On the red side you start with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and you add a dollop or deux of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec. (If it’s white, it begins with Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, with the dollop taking the form of Muscadelle du Bordelais.) In one vintage, Cabernet Sauvignon might lead the blend, in another, it might be Merlot, and in yet a third it might be Cabernet Franc that forms the heart. But in all cases, the master of the cellar tastes the wines, fiddles with various blends, then goes with what works best. It requires the courage of one’s experience and commitment to creativity. Or, just that one word: courage.

The real kicker, though, comes through the notion of synergy, that mind-blowing idea whereby combining elements creates something greater than the simple sum of its parts. It’s the heretical symbiosis whereby one plus one becomes three! Cabernet Sauvignon can be very good by itself, but when you put a little Merlot in there, to soften the Cab’s hard-nosed structure, it becomes a bit better than either one standing by itself. Want a bit more on the aromatic side? There’s where the Cabernet Franc comes in. A bit more structure and tannin? Malbec. Not enough color? Petit Verdot, at your service. Each one is interesting by itself; they become downright fascinating in combination.

It’s just as an oboe or a bassoon or a tympani has interest in solo performance, but they become far more delectable in combination. A trio is cool, but a symphony is exquisite.

Taking root

Dry Creek Vineyard’s founder David Stare was among the first to employ the term “Meritage.” “When I first used the term on a wine label back in 1985 [the wine was released in 1988], the art of crafting a blend was still in its infancy for most wineries,” he says. “Over the years, we’ve become pretty good at putting together blends—The Mariner is Don and Kim’s stamp on this winery—and I’m proud of the entire project, from the quality of the wine in the bottle to the sophisticated package that presents it to the public.”

Stare’s daughter, Kim Stare Wallace, is presently chair of the Meritage Alliance. “We’ve always been members,” she says. “We’ve been making a Bordeaux-style red blend since the early ’80s, but since the wine really didn’t have a category, there was no place to put it on a restaurant wine list or a retailer’s shelf other than in the Miscellaneous Red section—and who wants that? We just called ours David S. Stare Reserve Red. Dad liked to joke that it was his ‘ego wine,’ but it really just pointed to the lack of a category.

“In 1988, when the idea for creating a separate category was promoted—Agustin Huneeus, Mitch Cosentino, Dick Graff and writer Dan Berger were among those involved—they created an international contest to come up with a name for the category. There were more than 6,000 entries, if I remember correctly, and the winning entry was a combination of the words ‘merit’ and ‘heritage.’” To be pronounced like the latter.

The contest itself was a hoot. Some of the entries included CABBS (Council of American Bordeaux Blends), Tutti Cali Fruiti, Mendosonapa, Ensemble, Proprietal, Tapestry (later used by Beaulieu Vineyards), Elevage and my own, Symbios. “The winning name was a unanimous choice,” said the organization’s first president, Chalone’s Dick Graff. “As a coined word, it carries no negative baggage with it, so we can infuse it with any meaning we choose.”

Well, as it happened, the meaning was infused by the excellent wines that carried its banner almost from the outset. There were naysayers at the time, and several denounced the notion as nothing more than a slick marketing ploy. It was a marketing ploy, of course, to avoid the generic slots these wines had previously been passed off into. But it wasn’t slick; it was practical and necessary. And the notion has taken root, survived, even flourished.

Though the term was used from 1988 onward, the Meritage Association and its moniker actually became certified by the government in 1993 under the brisk efforts of executive director Rick Theis (formerly with the Wine Institute and the Wine Spectrum, Coca Cola’s wine division). “The idea,” said Theis at the time, “is that Meritage will distinguish wines made from premium, Bordeaux varieties from jug wine blends, even though both currently carry the same Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) designation for class and type, that being simply ‘table wine.’ Meritage wines are much more than simple table wines. To begin, they’re made with Bordeaux grape varieties. That alone makes them more expensive than ordinary table wines.”

Then-Guenoc owner Orville Magoon was honorary chairman of the initial group. “When I take a Cabernet Sauvignon that sells on average for more than twice the price [of another Cabernet Sauvignon], and then blend in Merlot, Cabernet Franc or Petit Verdot that are even more expensive, I have a substantial investment in grapes,” he told me. “Vintners blending these varieties will want to do everything possible to protect their investments, which leads to more attention to winemaking, more time-consuming fining and filtering and bigger expenditures for better barrels. When I think of all the effort and expense that goes into making Meritage wines, I feel embarrassed to have to put ‘Table Wine’ on the label. It’s so much more than that.”

Standing out

That’s the place and necessity of Meritage. Aside from the obvious category creation, its real merit is that it encourages a closer look at wines that might otherwise be bypassed in favor of wines with more obvious, more identifiable flavors. We like things we’re comfortable with. The same person who thrills to pick out a Chardonnay for its big, buttery, oaky presence is the same person who claps at the first bars of Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night.” But remember this, he’s not clapping for Sinatra or even for the song. He’s patting himself on the back for having recognized the standard. The real sophistication comes when that same consumer can recognize and appreciate the layers of complexity in a Meritage Red (or White) in the same way he understands the contrapuntal intricacies of a Bach fugue, a Mozart sonata or a Scarlatti cantata—and how, in each case, every new experience with any of them yields a new insight, an additional perspective. Which is, of course, what complexity and subtlety are all about.

Building energy

These days, the Meritage Alliance has more than 230 members and is growing daily. “I’d actually have to look at the website to give you an accurate number for today, as it’s changing so quickly.” says Wallace with a well-timed chuckle. “We’re adding members from all over the country and abroad, and all that new blood—which comes with new ideas—is really invigorating our group, so much so, we even changed our name. The Meritage Association was boring. An ‘alliance’ of like-minded people, making these wonderful, hand-crafted wines, is so much more exciting. We have a whole new website, a new video that explains the concept [it’s on the website, www.MeritageAlliance.com, and features chef Charlie Palmer and educator Fred Dame], we’re going to be a presence at the San Diego Food & Wine Festival later this year, and we’re planning our own signature tasting event in San Francisco in 2010. We’re hoping to include blending seminars for consumers at that event. When you can sit down with the winemakers, try different blends and see and taste how a little more of this or a little less of that changes the whole wine, well, that really expands your understanding of these wines and how they’re created.

“I’m a big fan of societies like ZAP for Zinfandel, the Rhone Rangers and the new TAPAS for producers of Tempranillo. It makes wine more fun for consumers of all sorts, and that expands the market for all of us. I remember when we first started the Meritage Association. A lot of writers wrote us off, saying it would never catch on. But you know, here we are, 21 years later and, while we’re not a household name, we’re widely recognized within the industry. We are a vibrant, growing organization and we’re continuing to fulfill the original mission. We’re no longer ‘Red Table Wine’ or ‘Miscellaneous White.’ When you visit your local wine shop or stop in at any quality restaurant anywhere in the country, you’ll find a Meritage section where these wonderful wines can be found. That’s all we were after.”

Meritage Wines