Winemaker Notes
Our 2016 Long Haul offers plum, cassis, and savory aromatic proles on the nose that morphs into a lush entrance of black fruit, caramel, tea, and earth. Silky, velvety tannins combine with mid-palate structure and acidity that leads into a lengthy nish.
Blend: 80% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Deep ruby/purple-colored, the 2016 Long Haul is a blend of 80% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3% Petit Verdot. This cuvée comes from a handful of sites and spent 21 months in 64% new French oak. It has loads of ripe black cherries, ground herbs, graphite, and hints of oak as well as medium to full body, terrific purity, and a fresh, focused, classic Mark Ryan style on the palate.
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James Suckling
Ripe dark plums and berries with cassia bark and other woody complexities. The palate has a smooth build of plums with tannins that build nicely at the back. 80% merlot, 9% cabernet franc, 8% cabernet sauvignon and 3% petit verdot. Drink in the next six years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Long Haul is a blend of 80% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The nose is focused with black and red fruits that have a chewy quality about them, with a softly extracted expression. Black cherry, dark plum and redcurrant show well on the medium to full-bodied palate, but this doesn’t have the same focus as the Little Sister of the same range. The wine has a pleasing finish with still-tight tannins. Let this rest before you break into it. 1,776 cases produced. Rating: 90+
Over a decade later, Mark Ryan Winery has grown in size, earned acclaim from wine-lovers and critics alike, and garnered respect from the state's elite producers. The goal, however, remains the same. Make delicious wines that represent the vineyard from which they come, making every vintage better than the last.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.