Wine Review – 2015 Hogue Cellars Genesis Meritage

Bottle Presentation

We appreciated the caricatured vine at the top of the label, as well as the vertically-oriented name. This makes the bottle distinct and easy to find on a shelf.

Appearance

Deep ruby.

Nose

Clean, pronounced intensity nose, with notes of plums, blueberry, blackberry, ripe cherry jam, fig, fennel, smoke, graphite, dried violets, vanilla, cedar, cloves, cinnamon, cooked fruit, prunes, and leather. Given the presence of tertiary notes (e.g., figs and prunes), we would consider this a developing wine.

Palate

Dry, full-bodied, medium(+) acidity, medium(+) tannins, and medium alcohol. Pronounced flavour intensity with notes of graphite, dark plums, earth, dried violets, nutmeg, blackcurrant leaf, dried wood, chocolate, bay leaf, cedar.

Finish

Long.

Overall Impressions

This 2015 edition of Hogue Cellars’ Genesis Meritage offered good complexity, very good intensity, and decent length. The alcohol, however, was noticeable – without knowing any different, we rated the alcohol level as high. For us, this comes at a cost in terms of the wine’s balance. Taken together, we rated this wine as good, albeit at the high end of this broad category.

When we tried the wine with our favourite pizzas, we found the spice notes matched the Calabrese pizza flavours. To our pleasant surprise, we tasted coffee grinds, eucalyptus, and menthol with the honey-goat cheese Margherita pizza.

There is still some fruit in the nose and palate, which would mean you could cellar this wine for a little longer. But we like that there are still prominent fruit aromas and flavours. So this suggests that the wine has hit its peak drinking window, at least for us.

Ratings

Overall Rating: 90/10

E-Wine rating: 3/5. We would purchase a couple of bottles of the 2015 Genesis Meritage, one to enjoy now and another to enjoy in the not-too-distant future.

Value: 4/5. Very good value!