I actually quite enjoyed this Canadian from Niagara River, which I found tucked away on a bottom shelf of a local wine shop.
The nose is replete with ample dill aromas - I guessed that there must be some different kind of oak at work, maybe Canadian or Hungarian. The website shows that the 2007 Meritage was aged in 10% Hungarian oak, so I've sent an email asking for confirmation on the 2004 oak.
Underneath the dill is black currant, black cherry, toasty notes, and slate.
Palate backs up these flavours, light- to medium-bodied, high acidity, mellowed-out dusty tannins. Quite refreshing and balanced.
Overall very enjoyable, and a wonderful pairing with beef stew. So nice to see a New World wine made in a more restrained manner. I'll definitely check out Reif's other offerings!
Anybody have any insight about Reif wines?