Margaux (mar-go)
The furthest south of the fine wine producing areas within the Haut-Medoc region of Bordeaux.

Margaux, Chateau (mar-go)
One of four wines to achieve First Growth status in the Bordeaux classification of 1855. The estate, in the Medoc region of France, dates back to at least the 13th century and began growing grapes in the 1570's. Among the most expensive wines in the world, the winery fell into a state of disrepair during the 1960's and 1970's and the quality of the wines deteriorated. Fortunately, the current owners have resurrected the standards and reputation. Chateau Margaux is a blend of approximately 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and a 5% blend of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot grapes.

Marsala (mar-sah'-lah)
The best known Italian fortified wine. In the U.S, it's probably used more for cooking than drinking, but in Italy it has traditionally been served as an aperitif, between courses of a meal, with a cheese course, or as a dessert wine. Marsala wines can be secco (dry), semi-secco (semi-dry), or dolce (sweet). As with Sherry and Madeira and other fortified wines, the color and flavor come from the wine oxidizing while being aged. Marsala is usually vinified dry and may be supplemented with a sweetener: a concentrated must called musto cotto or simply cotto which is responsible for Marsala's characteristic brown color and flavor.

Master of Wine (MW)
Conferred by the Institute of Masters of Wine, the MW is an internationally recognized designation for the top wine experts in the industry. Of those who attempt the two year program, only approximately 30% pass. As of this writing there are 264 MWs.

Mature
Wine parlance for wine that is properly aged, developed fully, and prime for drinking.

McLaren Vale
One of the oldest wine growing regions in Australia, it's located in South Australia and is famous for producing outstanding Shiraz from grapes which thrive in the thin soil and warm summers. While Shiraz represents about half of the total wine produced in McLaren Vale, other varietals grown in the region include Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, and Chardonnay.

Meaty
A wine tasting term used primarily to describe reds that are so firm, sturdy, and full-bodied one can almost chew them.

Médoc (may-doc)
Bordeaux, France's largest and most famous wine growing region. The Medoc is broken into two smaller regions: the Bas-Medoc (lower Medoc) and the Haut-Medoc (upper Medoc). Of the two, Haut-Medoc produces higher quality wines, so you often see Haut-Medoc on the labels of wines from the region. One may see Medoc (without Haut or Bas) on a label but one rarely sees bottles labeled Bas-Medoc.

Mellow
A descriptor for a likely well-aged wine that's soft and smooth, with no bite or harshness.

Meritage
A term invented and trademarked by U.S. winemakers in the late 1980s for use on the labels of blended wines crafted in the style of Bordeaux wines. The need developed due to the fact that in the U.S. there had not been a universally recognized term for American wines made in the Bordeaux style (meaning a wine with less than 75% of one varietal that is comprised of two or more traditional Bordeaux grapes, most commonly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, or Malbec ). This put winemakers in the position of having to either label their wines generically (such as "red table wine") or devise their own proprietary terms that meant little to the average consumer. Use of the term "meritage" (pronounced in a way that rhymes with "heritage") must be licensed from the California-based Meritage Association which regulates the criteria a wine must meet to qualify. No longer seen only on U.S. wines, "meritage" is being increasingly adopted by wineries worldwide as the term continues to achieve recognition among consumers.

Merlot (mair-lo)
A well-known red wine grape whose full name is Merlot Noir (there's also a Merlot Blanc). It's often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon or other red wine grapes. In Bordeaux's Haut-Medoc region, it is second to Cabernet Sauvignon, while in neighboring Pomerol and St. Emilion, Merlot makes up the largest percentage of the blend, or cepage. The grape is now grown extensively worldwide, though for a while its reputation slipped because of overproduction in some areas such as Italy. The Merlot varietal is grown abundantly in Eastern Europe with large plantings in Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Merlot was initially planted primarily as a blending grape in California and Washington, but the varietal began to be bottled under its own name in the late 1970s and has been continually gaining popularity - in spite of the movie Sideways (2004) which implied Merlot was the beverage of wine cretins.
Compared to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot grapes ripen fairly early and have higher sugar and lower tannin levels. They produce wines that are generally more round, soft, and supple than either Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc, and they can generally be enjoyed younger.

Mesoclimate
This term is typically used to describe the climate of a specific vineyard or hillside. See Macroclimate.

Méthode Champenoise (France)
The traditional protocol for creating sparkling wines in which a secondary fermentation happens in the bottle. The method, developed in France, is used worldwide, but only Champagne from the Champagne region of France may use the term legally.
The wine maker takes a variety of still wines and, in a vat, makes a house blend called a cuvee. Some elaborate cuvees can consist of 30 to 40 different wines. A small amount of a syrupy mixture of sugars and yeast is added, and then the wine is sealed and bottled. A secondary fermentation occurs due to the yeast acting on the sugar, which creates more alcohol and carbon dioxide gas, thus creating the bubbles in the wine. Sediment from the dead yeast remains in the bottles which are then, over a duration of several weeks or even months, slowly turned until this material falls down and collects in the bottle's neck. It is removed by placing the neck into a salt water solution sufficiently cold to cause some of the wine to freeze around the sediment. Then the bottle is opened and the ice is removed, taking the sediment away with it. More cuvee is added to the bottle to replace the sacrificed wine, along with additional sugar. The percentage of sugar is going to determine the final sweetness of the sparkling wine which ranges from nature or brut sauvage (the driest) to doux (the sweetest) with brut, extra dry, sec and demi-sec in between.

Méthode Traditionnelle (France)
Winemakers that produce sparkling wine in regions outside the bounds of the Champagne appellation in France are allowed to use this phrase on the label to indicate the sparkling wine was made following the Méthode Champenoise protocol.