Last Saturday (Sept. 12), the Long Island Merlot Alliance participated in the Merlot World Classic at Lenz. There were 10-12 local producers, and the Lenz crew brought in other merlot-based wines from France and the New World for a rare opportunity to taste merlots from around the world–and the region–side by side. Attendees (there were more than 200) seemed mostly to be consumers, but boy were they knowledgeable. My friend Kara Jackson, who gamely volunteered to help me (wo)man the LIMA table, and I fielded many informed questions from some serious merlot drinkers. I was thrilled to see so many people react so positively to Merliance, and jot down notes about where they could buy it. (It’s available only through our members’ tasting rooms and websites.)

 

The event crystallized for me a consistency in people’s reactions to our wine. Beyond the fact that Merliance tastes good, people seem to really dig its story. It is the only cooperative blend of any kind produced on Long Island. Much like the French cooperative system, the way Merliance is made produces a wine that is something more than the sum of its parts. With two barrels of finished wine (not grapes) coming from each member, Merliance includes merlot from the South Fork and nearly the entirety–east to west–of the North Fork. It encompasses seven winemakers’ styles (the final blend is made via blind-tasting of barrel samples from each producer), and nuances from American and French oak barrels, new and older wood, or no wood at all (tank fermentation and storage). With all these variables, it seems that the character of the grape comes through in a distinctly regional expression.

 

But why do people care? The idea of winemakers–competitors, one would assume–working together toward a common goal and greater good is appealing. And I think maybe the locavore movement has spurred some people to search out products that speak to their palates and their geographic sensibilities. It’s a point of pride for the residents of many of the world’s wine regions to drink what’s made by their neighbors, supporting the local economy and way of life. Plus, they know that “what grows together goes together,” so that the flora and fauna that’s grown in the same terroir as their wine grapes just taste better together. Thus, the locals in Rome would never think of drinking wine from California or even France. Why should New Yorkers?

 

So to all the savvy merlot drinkers who attended Lenz’s Merlot World Classic, asked all those great questions and loved our wine, I salute you–for any and all the reasons you were inspired to crack open your program guide, turn to the Merliance page and write BUY THIS.

–Donnell