T'Jara Vineyards Joins Merlot Alliance

North Fork wine label T'Jara has joined the Merliance.

Winemaker Russell Hearn has enlisted his second label wine in the Long Island Merlot Alliance, a cooperative of local winemakers who collaborate each vintage to craft a singular "Long Island" merlot dubbed Merliance.

Hearn, the Australia-born winemaker at who helped found the alliance in 2005, will contribute two barrels of 2010 T’Jara Merlot to the 2010 Merliance.

“We believe that Merlot serves as the basis for some of our region’s most distinctive and elegant red wines. In fact, T’Jara Vineyards is comprised of 70 percent merlot (three different clones), so we felt it was important to be part of an alliance of quality Long Island producers that work to collectively define, promote and enrich wines from this noble grape,” said Hearn in a statement.

Mattituck-based T'Jara, which Hearn runs with business partner Jed Beitler, is a nod to the winemaker's Austrailian roots.

“T’Jara is the phonetic spelling of an aboriginal word that, roughly translated, means ‘where I’m from.’ We wanted our wines to convey a definite sense of place—Long Island’s East End.”

T'Jara released its first bottling in late 2011, a merlot and merlot-based blend from the great 2007 vintage.

As for the alliance, the group's efforts picked up some major recognition in January when in a taste test hosted by the alliance.

Have you tried Merliance or T'Jara wines? What do you think?