Tamarack Cellars Merlot 2015
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This Merlot shows notes of baked almond and coconut on the nose followed by savory capers and fennel. The palate is bold and complex, offering smokey notes of prosciutto and kalamata tapenade. Blend: 90% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon.
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2018-
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When you visit the winery, you won't find us in a fancy chateau. Instead you'll find yourself immersed in the everyday workings of a Walla Walla winery, racking, blending and bottling wine, in a renovated firehouse located in a World War II Army Air Base.
Founded in 1998 by Ron and Jamie Coleman, Tamarack's first vintage consisted of 300 cases of Merlot. A year later Danny Gordon began working for Ron and over the years, took over the winemaking duties with the official title of "Maker of the Wine". Danny continues to excel in consistently crafting award winning, varietally correct wines sourced from some of the best vineyards in Washington.
It's about a passion for excellence. Tamarack Cellars buys grapes from the most renowned vineyards in Washington State and create our wines barrel by barrel. Whether it's the widely distributed Firehouse Red or one of the limited-production single vineyard reserve blends, Tamarack's wines offer a delicious expression of Washington vineyards' style and elegance in every bottle.
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.