Meritage Reds - Ontario vs British Columbia

Meritage (from Merit & Heritage) is the name coined in 1988 in Napa Valley for red and white Bordeaux-style wines. Meritage is pronounced like ‘heritage’; don’t say it like it’s a French word - the Americans coined it after all!

In April, we'll be sampling 8 Canadian Meritage wines: four from Ontario and four from BC, the two regions that produce the best red Meritage wines in the country. The winemaker at Stratus (ON), J-L (Jean-Laurent) Groux, is a native of France’s Loire Valley who learned his craft in the vineyards of Burgundy and Bordeaux. Tawse, voted Canada’s Winery of the Year in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2016, is dedicated to producing terroir-driven wines of exceptional elegance, depth and character. Hidden Bench’s (ON) Terroir series is produced in very limited quantities and represents the very best premium

wines that the Beamsville Bench and Hidden Bench can produce; their winemaker studies viticulture in Stellenbosch, S. Africa. Marc Bradshaw joined the team at Strewn Winery (ON); originally from Australia, Marc has a wine-related PhD and hands-on experience in South Africa, France, Germany, Australia and Canada. Le Grand Vin of Osoyoos Larose (BC) is the pride of their winery and made by winemaker, Mathieu Mercier, who grew up in the vineyard at his family’s estate in Cognac. Culmina, a family-owned wine estate in BC, works with exceptionally talented Viticulture and Oenology professionals all hailing from France. Dirty Laundry in Summerland BC has produced many award-winning wines. Laughing Stock’s (BC) Portfolio Meritage is a stunning, spectacular wine of incredible depth and length combining Old World structure and New World power.

Our guest speaker will be Marlize Beyers, Winemaker at Hidden Bench Winery.

Date: Tuesday, April 18th, 2017

Time: 6 PM

Formal Tasting: 6.20 PM

Price: Members: $61; Guests / Non-Member: $76  (includes reception wine, appetizers, bread and our 8 wines)

Venue: Faculty Club, Univ. of Toronto, 41 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1C7  - Map 

NOTE: ALL ticket sales/reservations are final. 

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Review of Sauvignon Blanc tasting

Here's a recap of our Sauvignon Blanc Judgement tasting which took place Tuesday March 21.

Great tasting last night. Britnie Bazylewski and Josh Kelly of Creekside Winery brought along a fruity sipper from Creekside. The 2016 Creekside Sauvignon Blanc set the stage for an evening of grapefruit and gooseberry.

We experienced a lot of similarity between the wines with familiar gooseberry, grassiness, tropical fruit showing up all over. There was also a lot of variation in the amount of oak influence, juicy fruitiness, and acidity across the range of wines. There was definitely a wine for every taste in this high-calibre collection of white wines.

Possibly the most active group discussion about wines we’ve ever had at the end of the tasting. This was probably mostly due to how effectively Britnie coaxed comments from members as she gave her impressions of the wines. It was a really fun and active discussion at the end of the evening.  One of our members commented that Britnie was the best speaker TVC has ever had.  Thank you!

Group results:

2013 Henri Bourgeois La Bourgeoise Sancerre (Loire) $44; Group #1; Guest #8 and #1

2013 Clouds Rest Forbidden Sauvignon Blanc (California) $50; Group #2

2013 Creekside Reserve Sauvignon Blanc (Ontario) $27; Group #3

 2016 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand) $35; Group #4

2014 Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc (California) $47; Group #5

2013 Schiopetto Sauvignon Blanc (Italy) $33; Group #6

2013 Château Olivier Blanc (Bordeaux) $59; Group #7

2013 Henri Bourgeois d'Antan Sancerre (Loire) $59; Group #8