Winemaker Notes
A combination of dark fruit intermingles with notes of cassis, mocha and wildflowers. This wine has a rich and smooth mouthfeel that exhibits fine-grained tannins while still maintaining a sense of lift and freshness.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Black cherries, currants, chocolate, and spicy notes emerge from the 2017 Merlot Champoux Vineyard. It's a charming, medium-bodied rounded, nicely textured, pleasure-bent effort to enjoy over the coming 5-7 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A pure expression, the 2017 Merlot Champoux Vineyard embodies the heart of the Merlot, with velvety red fruit, a soft floral nose and subtle plum and sage tones. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has a good structured core and grippy tannins that support the vibrant expression and lively freshness, followed by a lingering finish with nuances of subtle oak spices, plush black cherries and dusty plums.
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.
"Surely this is Horse Heaven!”
Its wide prairies and rolling expanses led an early pioneer to proclaim that the region looked like “horse heaven,” and as a result, the area was appropriately named. Horse Heaven Hills is in south central Washington state, geographically bound on its northern border by the Yakima River and in the south, by the larger Columbia River.
Its proximity to the Columbia River contributes to a variety of climactic factors that dramatically affect its grapes. In particular, an increase in wind from changes in pressure along the river, which flows from the cool and wet Pacific Ocean, inland to Washington’s hot and arid plains, creates 30% more wind than there would be otherwise. These winds moderate temperatures, protect against mold and rot, reduce the risk of early and late season frosts, diminish canopy size and toughen grape skins.
The vineyards bordering the river are on steep, south-facing, well-exposed slopes, with well-drained, sandy-loam soils. But the soils of the appellation are diverse throughout, ranging from wind-blown sand and loess, Missoula Flood sediment, and rocky basalt. Horse Heaven Hills has an arid continental climate with elevations ranging from 200 to 1,800 feet.
The first vines of the appellation were planted in 1972 in an optimal spot now referred to as the Champoux Vineyard. Today it remains the source of some of Washington’s most desirable and expensive Cabernet Sauvignons. In fact, the appellation as a whole boasts many of Washington’s top scoring wines. Its primary grape varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Riesling.