Boomtown by Dusted Valley Merlot 2018
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Boomtown red wines hail from McNary Vineyard, perched right along the mighty Columbia River in the Southeast corner of the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. Beautiful fruit and balance are the hallmarks of these wines.
The 2018 Merlot offers aromas of cherry hand pie, peppered pastrami, blueberry compote, and magnolia blossom with a chewy, crisp, dry medium-to-full body and a peppery, refreshing, medium-length leather, carob, black licorice, and firm plum finish with chewy tannins. A powerful, dry, chewy Merlot for rich meals; great for Cab-drinkers.
Blend: 90% Merlot, 5% Syrah, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
The aromas pop, with the notes of raspberry, dried herb and spice showing a lot of appeal. The flavors are plush and show a pleasing sense of balance.
-
James Suckling
A really delicious merlot with chocolate and berry character, medium body, soft and round tannins and a juicy finish. 90% merlot, 5% syrah, 3% cabernet sauvignon and 2% malbec. Fun to drink now. Screw cap.
Other Vintages
2020-
Wine
Enthusiast
-
James
Suckling
-
Wilfred
Wong
A nod to the Dusted Valley family's unquenchable thirst for adventure, Boomtown is crafted for all of those unafraid to step out and leave their comfort zones. Boomtown by Dusted Valley allows our family the opportunity to share a fantastic Dusted Valley wine with a larger audience. Winemakers, Chad Johnson and Corey Braunel, control the process from vineyard to bottle and source 100% of the fruit from Columbia Valley in Washington State.
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.
An important winegrowing state increasingly recognized for its high-quality reds and whites, Washington ranks second in production in the U.S. after California. Washington wines continue to gain well-deserved popularity as they garner higher and higher praise from critics and consumers alike.
Washington winemakers draw inspiration mainly from Napa Valley, Bordeaux and the Rhône as well as increasingly from other regions like Spain and Italy. Most viticulture takes place on the eastern side of the state—an arid desert in the rain shadow of the Cascade mountains. Irrigation is made possible by the Columbia River. Temperatures are extreme, with hot and dry summers and cold winters, during which frost can be a risk.
Washington’s wine industry was initially built on Merlot, which remains an important variety to this day, despite having been overtaken in acreage planted by Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Bordeaux blends and Rhône blends are common as well as single varietal bottlings. Washington reds tend to express a real purity of concentrated fruit. The best examples have a bold richness, seamless texture, plush or powdery tannins and flavors such as licorice, herb, forest floor, espresso and dark chocolate.
In terms of white wine from Washington state, Riesling is the state’s major success story, producing crisp, aromatic examples with plenty of stone fruit that range from bone dry to lusciously sweet. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc perform nicely here as well, and Viognier is beginning to pick up steam.