Making wine is an adventure! After a bold journey from the Fair Play AVA through 21 months in French and American oak our 1850 Meritage arrives with a score worth telling stories around the campfire. Wine Enthusiast scores 1850 Meritage 91 points making this wine HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Our Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vineyards in Fair Play produced very high quality fruit in 2018.
We were able to take advantage of a mid-harvest heat spell which allowed the fruit to fully mature enough to harvest. Upon crushing we took a 10% saignee (bleeding off of juice) to concentrate the already ripe flavors even more. We utilized a yeast strain isolated from the Bordeaux region to ferment the wine. Post fermentation we aged the wines separately in a blend of French and American oak. The resulting wines are some of the best to come off our vineyards. We decided to blend a portion of those wines into this Meritage as a taste summary of our Fair Play AVA vineyards.
This wine boasts an easy to love aromatic profile of dried herbs, raspberry and dried blueberry with hints of sweet American oak. Supple tannins, bright acidity and deep fruit flavors round out the palate of this medium bodied Bordeaux style blend. This wine will age beautifully for about 8 years.
If you are wondering what you might pair the 1850 Meritage with, because who doesn't love food, we are recommending
Filet Mignon with gorgonzola cream sauce. Or, if that isn't fancy enough, try roasted duck with a red wine and blueberry sauce.
If you want to keep it simple and low key then go with a classic cheeseburger, some comfort for the soul with meatloaf, or get nostalgic with some Mac and cheese.
