Northstar Columbia Valley Merlot 2007
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Well balanced with a nose and flavors of raspberry, plum, and cherry, leading into notes of vanilla, coconut, and spice on the palate. Lots of structure and balanced tannins make this a great wine to pair with food. Enjoy!
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
From a superb year, this wine saw all French oak, but an ongoing reduction in exposure to new barrels brought the percentage down to 60%. Young and muscular, the blend of black fruits, sweet oak and toasty spice is focused and compelling. Pure fruit flavors include black cherry and plum, smooth and concentrated, with a smoky kick in the lingering finish.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Merlot Columbia Valley was blended from 14 vineyards while the wine was made with 40-60% whole berries depending upon the site. It was aged for 18 months in 60% new French oak. It reveals a nose of pain grille, pencil lead, spice box, lavender, cassis, and black currant. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, this impeccably balanced wine is loaded with raspberry, plum, and black fruit flavors, has outstanding density, and a long, fruit-filled finish. Give it another 3 years of cellaring and drink it from 2013 to 2022.
-
Wine Spectator
Dense and chewy, featuring a sweetness and suppleness that make the earthy cherry and blackberry flavors weave through the tannins, emerging on the long finish with finesse. Best from 2012 through 2016.
Other Vintages
2020-
Suckling
James
-
Guide
Connoisseurs' -
Suckling
James
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Panel
Tasting
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
Northstar, located in Walla Walla, Washington, aims to make Merlots that can be considered among the world's best, using fruit sourced from one of the world's best regions for the variety: Washington state. Winemaker, David "Merf" Merfeld, blends New World fruit with an old world winemaking style, influenced by Bordeaux's "right bank," to create his highly-acclaimed wines. Northstar produces two Merlot-based wines from the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla AVAs, as well as the Stella Maris red blend and extremely limited production bottlings of the blending component varieties that Merf uses as his "spice box" in creating Northstar's Merlots.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.