Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
True to the dense, muscular style of Woodward Canyon's Merlots, this elevates the complexity in a near-perfect vintage. Deep and textural, it packs together concentrated red fruits, preserves and cassis. At first it shows a little heat from the 15% alcohol, but as it breathes open over hours (and even days) the primary fruit give way to subtle veins of olive, earth, coffee and toast. Editor's Choice
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Woodward Canyon's red wines begin with the 2007 Merlot. It is a multi-regional blend containing 14% Cabernet Sauvignon. The majority of the fruit was sourced from the excellent Weinbau Vineyard. Medium crimson-colored it displays an excellent bouquet of balsam wood, Asian spices, violets, cassis, and black cherry with a hint of coffee/mocha in the background. Full-bodied and generous on the palate, it has plenty of ripe fruit, red and black fruit flavors, spice notes, and well-integrated tannin. It has the structure to evolve for 1-2 years but can be enjoyed now and over the next 6-8.
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Wine & Spirits
Merlot in the key of oak, this stylish wine leads with toffee and oak spice, guiding a background vocal of ripe plum. That fruit will need some cellar time to knit into the oak profile; then serve with roast pork and wild mushrooms.
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.