The Calamus Meritage is a big step up from the Calamus Red (of the same year), price-wise; and for good reason. This wine constitutes the best barrels from the vintage; in this case 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc and 15% Merlot … and only 300 cases were produced. “Best barrels” were tough to find in 2007 because all seemed to be good, but winemaker Arthur Harder, assistant Steve Byfield and the owners of Calamus all sat down to take part in the tasting and blending, though I am sure Arthur had final say, though the tasting, by all accounts, was a lot of fun. The nose is loaded with appealing aromas: smoke, dark chocolate, blackberry, vanilla, cinnamon, crème de cassis and black cherry. The palate offers up a big load of flavour too: dark fruit, herbs, spice, cinnamon and dusty tannins on the finish, which is full of long and lingering spiced-black fruit. This is a wine that should come into its own in the next couple of years, revealing more layers of flavour, so be sure to set some aside. In my opinion, this is Harder’s best red to date for Calamus. Price: $30.00 – Rating: ****½