Treleaven, Meritage 2012, Finger Lakes, New York

Tasting Note: Purple-colored with blackberry, cranberry, red plum and flakes of cinnamon baking spice, this meritage is aromatic and fragrant as though it were built on the back of cabernet franc as its main blending grape component.

Aromas on the nose continue to the palate as flavors with the high tannin content making itself known on the attack, along with medium-plus acidity softening into black and red fruit on the slightly chalky finish.

This meritage blend elegantly balances tannin, acidity and fruit.

If indeed this meritage is built on a cab franc back making up the dominant percentage of the blend, you may be witnessing the early rise of a meritage blend style that could further put the New York Finger Lakes on the map as most meritage blends you encounter aren’t built on a fragrant cab franc foundation – a potentially delicious and intriguing meritage category for the New York Finger Lakes region to further develop.

Bottle Note: King Ferry Winery maker of Treleaven-brand wines, can be found halfway up the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake. Our winemaking philosophy is to produce pleasing wines for a wide variety of tastes, always with the emphasis on promoting the fruit character.