Behind the Cork™ - Amrita Seiza White Blend

2021 Amrita Seiza White Blend ($35)

Amrita Cellars, founded in 2017, prides itself on finding vineyards off the beaten path and sourcing their grapes from family-owned wine growers that use the best practices in renewable and sustainable farming.

Sunny, their winemaker is a first-generation East India gentleman born and raised in the United States. He named Amrita Cellars to honor his culture and family. Amrita in Sanskrit (ancient Indic language of India) means immortality and is often referred to as the elixir.

This Amrita Seiza is made from a 50/50 blend of Viognier and Grenache Blanc. Each is fermented separately and then blended post-fermentation and aged in stainless steel.

This wine is pale gold in color with bright floral aromas and hints of lemon peel and tangerine. On the palate it is medium-light bodied with a smooth mouthfeel, flavors of citrus and pear with moderate acidity. It is available directly from the Amrita Cellars website.

Also, check out Amrita Cellars Pinot Noir wines that won two Bronze Medals at the Orange County Fair Commercial Wine Competition in June 2022. Cheers!

Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Sample Provided by Amrita Cellars

The New Grapes to be Included in Bordeaux Wine Blends

There are many different types of grapes grown in Bordeaux and used in their famous wines.

In the past, there were just six varietals allowed for making red wine in Bordeaux: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Carménre. White wines were limited to the use of Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, Muscadelle, Sauvignon Gris, Colombard, Ugni Blanc, Merlot Blanc, Mauzac, and Ondenc.

But in January of 2021, the governing body in Bordeaux allowed four new red varieties, including Touriga Nacional, Marselan, Castets, and Arinarnoa, as well as two white varieties, Alvarinho and Liliorila. This was done to give more viticultural options to grape growers to address climate change and combat less hospitable conditions. The new grapes will be listed officially as "new varieties of interest for adapting to climate change". This puts them third in the hierarchy behind "major" and "additional" grapes in official documents. This status will again be reviewed in 2031.

Under current restrictions, usage of the new varieties is limited. They may only account for five percent of the planted vineyard area, and a maximum of ten percent of a wine blend. Because of France's wine labeling regulations, these new varieties will not appear on Bordeaux labels. So, these changes to battle climate change will go relatively unnoticed for now.

Although you may not notice any real change in Bordeaux wine blends, they are changing as the world’s climate is changing. Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Silvia Cellars Three White Barrels

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2017 Silvia Cellars Three White Barrels ($20)

The inspiration for Silvia Cellars began in 1885 on a family owned vineyard in Sicily. Striving to create quality wine for his dinner table, Nonno Silvia shared a passion for vendemmia (harvesting) of his vines with the members of his family. Over a century later, Antonio Silvia carried on his Grandfather’s legacy by starting his own winery with the same values. Silvia Cellars, a family owned winery, was born from the desire to capture the best of California appellations from seeking growing sites that fit their Sicilian winemaking style.

This is Silvia Cellars second vintage of their Three Barrels White blend. It’s produced from 65% Sauvignon Blanc, 18% Viogner and 17% Semilion. The wine is then fermented in 50% stainless steel and 50% in oak.

This Three White Barrels blend is pale yellow in color and has notes of tropical fruits, pineapple, lime and citrus on the nose. On the palate it has a rich and creamy front-end that trails off into some refreshing acidity and a long finish.

This is yet another fine example of an affordable and attainable wine that fits right in as a Behind the Cork™ wine of the week.

You can find Silvia Cellars wines on https://silviacellars.com

Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Sample Provided by Antonio Silvia, Managing Director of Silvia Cellars LLC

Ever Wonder - What is Jug Wine?

While strolling through the wine section of my local grocery store, I was asked “Do you know what Jug Wine is?” My attention was drawn to a sign above the shelves that identified the section as “Jug Wine.”

My first reaction was to state that it’s cheap bulk wine. But, the immediate follow-on question that I got was “What type of wine is it?” I had to shrug my shoulders and say “I don’t really know. Probably some blend of grapes.” Turns out, both of my responses were correct.

You’ll find that these jug wines are commonly sold as “Burgundy” for the red ones or “Chablis” for the white ones. These are trademark name of their wine brands and definitely not French wines. In France, red wines from Burgundy are made from Pinot Noir and wines from Chablis are made from Chardonnay. Some makers of the jug wines go so far as to call them “Reserve” which is just a bit of a stretch since that term is not regulated in the U.S.

So I did a little digging and learned, for example, that Gallo's Hearty Burgundy is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Petite Sirah, Teroldego and Zinfandel, while Carlo Rossi Burgundy is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Ruby Cabernet and Syrah.

Another blending wine is Barbera. In California, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Barbera was one of the most successful grapes being grown in the Central Valley, where it became a major blending component in jug wines. Unfortunately, Barbera still gets a bad rap because of this. Yet, it’s one of my favorite varietal wines, especially from the Amador and El Dorado Counties of California.

So, yes, jug wine is inexpensive bulk wine that’s a blend of different grapes. And, it’s very popular as a table wine in the U.S. So, enjoy! Cheers!

What is Meritage Wine?

Have you ever come across a wine labeled as Meritage and wondered what it is? It's made in the U.S. where you can dependably know what a wine is because the label will tell you the grape varietal used to make the wine.  But this U.S. made wine seems to fall into the category of many European wines; the label does not directly tell you the grapes used in the wine's production. And for good reason.

Old World wines, especially those of France, are named for regions. Regions where only certain grapes are allowed to be grown. Additionally, there are regions, such as Bordeaux, where the wines are blends of these controlled grapes. And, as you may know, these Bordeaux blends have done rather well in the world market.

Blended wines have been made for years in the U.S., but their labels had to say generic things like "Red Blend" or "Table Wine."  Not nearly as sophisticated sounding as a Bordeaux. So, in 1988, U.S. wine makers decided to form an alliance and create a name for their blended wines. They decided on blending two words: 'Merit,' for having worth, and 'Heritage' for the Bordeaux style of wine making. Thus the new word 'Meritage.'  But, instead of making it sound like it is a French wine, they insisted that it be pronounced to rhyme with the word heritage.

Red Meritage can be blended from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenère. White Meritage is produced from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle du Bordolais.  So these blends rely on the traditional Old World Noble grapes yet gives U.S. wine maker's their own name for their blends.

Don't skip over this wine just because its label doesn't tell you what it is.  The label actually does tell you what grapes may be used. But most importantly, it allows wine makers the freedom to blend their own very unique creations from a common set of grapes. Cheers!