Wine of the week: Dry Creek Vineyard, 2019 The Mariner Meritage Blend, Dry Creek Valley

When Kim Stare Wallace was a little girl, she used to play with her dolls in the cellar at Dry Creek Vineyard. She had no idea that one day she’d be president of this Healdsburg winery.

Today, Stare Wallace is behind our wine of the week winner — Dry Creek Vineyard, 2019 The Mariner Meritage Blend, Dry Creek Valley, 14.5%, $50. This savory Bordeaux red blend has aromas and flavors of black currant, black cherry, blackberry and dried herbs, with hints of white pepper, mocha and leather. Balanced, with crisp acid, it also has nice length. The Mariner edged out other contenders in this week’s lineup because of its impressive quality at this price.

“What makes this bottling so special is it’s released in our 50th anniversary year and reflects our long history with the art of Bordeaux blending,” Stare Wallace said. “There are so few iconic, truly independent legacy wineries that are still family-owned. ... We’ve weathered many storms. Just look at the last few years with fires, floods and the global pandemic. Through it all, we’ve stuck together as a family.”

The winning Mariner is a Meritage — a Bordeaux-style blend — and Stare Wallace said it’s sentimental because her father (Dave Stare) was instrumental in developing this category in winemaking. In the mid-1980s, government labeling rules still required wineries to call their red blends “red table wine.”

“Talk about making it a hard sell!” Stare Wallace said. Her father and others wanted to end this rule and use a more appealing name.

“(The name) Meritage ... was chosen from a contest with over 6,000 entries because it combined the term ‘merit’ with the word ‘heritage,’” Stare Wallace explained. “The Meritage Association was formed in 1988, and I served on the board with Dad, eventually becoming the chairperson. So, the concept of Meritage is not only in our DNA and history as a winery, but it’s also very personal to me.”

As for the label of the winning wine, the illustration depicts the life of a mariner, one who navigates a ship.

“The analogy symbolizes the same navigation that a winemaker goes through when crafting his blend,” Stare Wallace said.

Stepping away from convention, the winery began showcasing sailboats on their labels in the early 1980s, at a time when running with a theme was rare.

In 2010, Stare Wallace was promoted to the winery’s president, marking the transition to the second generation. But initially, she was reluctant to join the family business.

“I had grander visions and aspirations to leave my small town and make a name for myself in the world of fashion,” she said. But she soon realized the fashion industry wasn’t the right path for her. She joined the winery in 1986.

“When you look at a wine list or at wines in a retail store, so many of the bottles on the shelf are produced by large corporations that aren’t authentic to their craft,” Stare Wallace said.

“We have bucked the trend of homogenization and remained independent while competing with the larger brands. That’s what makes it even more special when I see a bottle of Dry Creek Vineyard out in the world.”

Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.