Winemaker Notes
Blend: 81% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 6% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Merlot offers up lots of black cherry and dark currant fruits as well as medium to full-bodied richness, some violet and chocolatey herb notes, a kiss of background oak, and a great finish. Drink this rich, mouth-filling, impressive Merlot over the coming 7-8 years. The blend is 81% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Malbec, raised in 58% new French oak.
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James Suckling
Stewed plums, chocolate orange, tar and vanilla on the nose. It’s medium-to full-bodied with sleek tannins and a creamy, rounded palate. Supple and smooth finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Dark ruby at the core, the 2018 Merlot contains splashes of Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Aromas of spiced plum, dark cherry skin and black raspberry sway with elements of juicy tobacco, river rocks and soft baking spices. Medium to full-bodied, the wine displays just-ripe fruit elements with buttressing tannins that lift the mouthfeel and complexity. Concluding with a delightful, lingering finish, the dark, red-fruited essences remain on the palate with persistence. The wine rested in French oak, almost 60% new. Give it a try; it's delicious. 13,620 bottles produced.
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.