Winemaker Notes
The 2021 vintage has concentrated aromas of black cherry, raspberry, mint, and cream that lead into flavors of dark chocolate, graham cracker, and cedar. The wine is lush and bright and was created to enjoy now, or for many years to come as it will age gracefully.
Blend: 82% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A delicious red with enveloping layers of mulberries, black cherries, chocolate and coffee beans. It’s full-bodied with broad, berry-soaked tannins. 82% merlot and 18% cabernet sauvignon.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Merlot Columbia Valley (there's 18% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend) is deep ruby/plum-hued and has a rock-solid perfume of red plums, leather, savory herbs, and a hint of iron. It's certainly a darker, more inward wine compared to the Red Blend, and it’s medium-bodied and focused, with fine yet building tannins and outstanding length.
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Wine Enthusiast
This lush, medium-bodied Merlot (with 18% Cabernet Sauvignon) strikes first with black cherry and mint tea aromas that will perk you right up. Next up, the wine’s chocolate-covered cherry, shortbread and cedar flavors hang on a wall of sturdy tannins.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Columbia Valley Merlot is blended with 18% Cabernet Sauvignon and matured for 20 months in 36% new French oak. It’s scented of red cherries, milk chocolate, licorice and graphite. The full-bodied palate is easy to drink with soft, supple tannins, rounded acidity and a satisfying finish.
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Vinous
Dusty dried violets, crushed stone and hints of rum-soaked currants create a spicy bouquet as the 2021 Merlot opens in the glass. It sweeps across the palate with juicy textures and ripe red and blue fruits as a thrust of sage embellishes the close. Pleasantly chewy and long, the 2021 finishes with medium length and pleasant freshness.
Northstar, located in Walla Walla, Washington, aims to make Merlots that can be considered among the world's best, using fruit sourced from one of the world's best regions for the variety: Washington state. Winemaker, David "Merf" Merfeld, blends New World fruit with an old world winemaking style, influenced by Bordeaux's "right bank," to create his highly-acclaimed wines. Northstar produces two Merlot-based wines from the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla AVAs, as well as the Stella Maris red blend and extremely limited production bottlings of the blending component varieties that Merf uses as his "spice box" in creating Northstar's Merlots.
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.
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.