The Winery: RGNY
The Winemaker: Leo Mora
The Wine: 2023 White Merlot
The Price: $36
The Grapes: 100% merlot
Sometimes, wine terminology can be confusing. Take white merlot, for example.
You’d be forgiven if you thought white merlot was a grape. Instead, it’s a wine made from that grape you know well from Long Island — regular ol’ red merlot, from the French name for blackbird, merle. But it’s just the flesh inside the skins that’s used. The grapes get crushed and the skins, where all the color and tannin come from in a wine, are stripped away and just the pulpy, juicy, ripe fruit inside is used to make the wine in your glass.
RGNY CEO Maria Rivero allows the vineyard to be guided by the cool-climate nature of the Long Island region, which sits in stark contrast to Parras, Mexico, where her family first began making wine. But Rivero likes underdogs; and she likes unique, interesting personalities, in both people and wine.
While RGNY does have a full-on red merlot in works from the gorgeous 2022 vintage, their 2023 White Merlot shows a different side of the grape worth exploring and pouring.

What’s in your glass: Fermented in stainless steel, the grapes for the 2023 RGNY White Merlot are picked a little on the earlier side than they would be if it was being made as a straight-up red in order to maintain a little more of that electric acidity. It’s a demure, soft yellow hue in the glass, but hits your nose with a mix of ripe stone fruits — peach, yellow cherry, some Bosc pear. It’s mouthfilling and a little bit plush on the tongue, but that fruit on your palate is gentle, even a little muted, with a tingly, zippy, dry finish.
Pairs with: We love this wine with a soft, easy-going cows’ milk cheese, oysters Mornay and, as suggested by Carla Gonzalez, brand ambassador at RGNY, pasta in a peppery Alfredo sauce.
To hold or not to hold: RGNY’s white merlot is ready to drink as soon as you’re ready to pop the cork. In its youth, it shows a tumble of expressive fruit aromatics and freshness on the palate. But, says Rivero, “…hold this wine for five to six years and it will impress with its versatility and evolution.”