Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Coming from the estate Loess, Seven Hills and Mill Creek Upland vineyards in Walla Walla, the 2011 Merlot is a superb, plush and yet gorgeously elegant and detailed effort that boasts knockout aromatics of spring flowers, black cherry, plum, licorice and dusty mineral on the nose. Already complex and approachable, it nevertheless has full-bodied richness on the palate, as well as a supple, mouth-filling texture, juicy acidity and no hard edges. Drink it over the coming decade. Drink now-2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is 100% varietal Merlot, aged 15 months in new and neutral French oak barrels and botti. It’s tangy, sleek and supple, with a spectrum of fruit from cranberry on through blackberry. Tannins are polished and mouth-coating, with substantial power. The finish brings hints of herbs and black olives. Cellar Selection.
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Wine Spectator
Firm in texture, showing pepper and licorice flavors at first, followed by plum and currant fruit that fills in the taut frame. Needs time to soften and unfurl.
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.
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.