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VARIETAL REPORT HOMAGE TO BORDEUX Bonterra Winery 2009 Merlot, Mendocino ($16) Bonterra is America's leading organic wine brand, and for the past 12 years winemaker Bob Blue has worked with Christian Le Sommer, a consultant from Bordeaux, to improve what's in the bottle. "Christian was the winemaker for Château Latour for 13 years, and together we have developed a Mendocino style that pays homage to the great wines of Bordeaux," Blue says. "Fashion in wine moves constantly and usually awkwardly, but classic styling is always relevant, delicious and timeless." Blue thinks that the greatest strength of Bonterra's Merlot is its focus on red fruit and the grape's innately soft qualities. Another is a sense of balance and elegance that make it such a clas- sic wine to have with dinner. In the glass, black tea and currant enfold red raspberry and pomegranate on a long fi nish that's perfect for any main course. Bonterra has a new ranch that is Demeter-certifi ed Biodynamic. Vineyard Director David Koball's recent innovations include allowing 2,000 sheep to graze the vineyards in the spring to perform mowing and under-vine weed control tasks, "which was fabulous because we did not run any tractors during the time that the sheep were there. We grazed 90 percent of our vineyards [about 825 acres] and plan on using sheep throughout the winter this year. We've also established beehives on three of our ranches with the goal of expanding to all of them over time." Fetzer Vineyards Merlot Camp 102 / the tasting panel / october 2012 DIVINE ITALIAN Heavenly Light 2011 Merlot, Veneto, Italy ($13) Most low-calorie wine alternatives lack fl avor, but less alcohol doesn't mean that a carefully crafted product can't be an acceptable replacement for seri- ous wine consumers. Carlo Fodera, CEO of C&C Distributors of Fine Wines and Spirits, worked for more than two years to develop a low-calorie wine with a decent percentage of alcohol. "The wine, produced by one of Italy's largest and oldest wineries, retains the true fl avor of the varietal. Italy has long been known for light wines but we long thought that the alcohol content was too low for the American market. We were wrong." Weighing in at only 11 percent alcohol, the Heavenly Light Merlot, from Italy's Veneto region, smells of pomegranate and sour cherry and tastes of cranberry and orange peel. It's tasty juice, easily available and moderately priced. Fodera knows that a health-conscious marketing approach doesn't hurt either. "We have a nutritional analysis printed on the back label of every bottle. Our quality packag- ing also refl ects good taste. It's a great gift presenta- tion for health-conscious consumers." Fodera's vision is that light wine eventually will be as popular as light beer. "People have a higher con- sciousness of health and so wine is becoming more prevalent in daily life." For more on Fodera and his business partner, VP Chiarina Marie Argenziano, see our feature story on page 126. C&C Distributors The second annual Northstar Winery Merlot Camp in Walla Walla, Washington, ran from July 23–25 and paired a bunch of wine journalists with Northstar's laid-back yet famously intense winemaker David "Merf" Merfeld. Topics included the geologic history of the Columbia Valley and tannin management lab exercises at the winery. Stomachs were not ignored, either, as was evidenced by a gourmet welcome dinner the fi rst night at Merf's home, served around a backyard fi re pit where participants enjoyed a late-night tasting of Northstar library wines. The next day included fi eld trips through the Wallula Gap and over to Red Mountain's Klipsun Vineyard in the Red Mountain American Viticultural Area (AVA) and a non-blind tasting of Merlots from around the world in the 2008 vintage. The fi nal day included a tasting seminar on world-class Merlots and a relaxed blending exercise. All in all, a wonderful way to learn about Merlot, Washington and Northstar Winery.