Winemaker Notes
This wine is densely colored garnet to the rim. It opens with rich aromatics of graham crackers and blackberries poured over vanilla ice cream with a subtle note of rich medium roast coffee. Sweet and dense fruit notes on the mid-palate are bolstered by grippy tannins that recede at the perfect moment. Each sip leaves you with a supple but chalky finish that lingers. A truly sensational Merlot from the '22 vintage that must be experienced.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
All Merlot aged in once-filled and neutral oak, the 2022 Merlot sports a vivid ruby/purple hue as well as solid aromatics of ripe black cherries, cedary herbs, dried flowers, and a kiss of background oak. It's medium to full-bodied, has a pure, elegant mouthfeel, polished tannins, and a great finish.
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James Suckling
I like the chocolate and Oreo cookie aromas to the black plum fruit. Oranges and bay leaves, too. It’s full-bodied, full of character and expansive on the palate, with a toasty, firm tannin frame. Remains elegant. 100% merlot.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deeply colored and extracted for a Merlot, the 2022 Walla Walla Merlot displays mocha notes with plum and blackberry compote with soft notions of brown baking spices that sway from the glass with a firm, mineral essence. Full-bodied, the palate is still tight with firm,. gripping tannins that will release with additional years in the cellar yet will remain food-friendly for the next decade. Rating: 93+
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Vinous
The 2022 Merlot is remarkably pretty, as a bouquet of violet flowers, lavender, hints of sweet spice and sugar- dusted blackberries wafts up for the glass. This is soothingly round and pure in style, with a perfumed mix of blueberries and sensations of liquid stone. It tapers off long and floral with a pleasantly tart blackberry tinge that lingers on and on. This is a more accessible interpretation of Leonetti's Merlot.
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Wine Spectator
Broad-shouldered and densely structured, this Merlot offers currant, river stone and dusky spice flavors while building tension toward firm tannins. Hands off for now. Best from 2026 through 2033. 1,954 cases made.
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.