BRR
Posts: 1839
Joined: 9/1/2009
From: Seattle, WA
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A handful (if you can call 13 of us a "handful") of Seattle wine enthusiasts decided to take a deep dive into Washington State Merlot on Saturday afternoon. A discussion with a well-known poster on WB is what prompted this tasting to take form. Kris has long said that Merlot is the best red variety in the state. Many will say Syrah is, and while I like both Merlot and Syrah from WA, I think that Cabernet Sauvignon is particularly awesome when done right. As such, we thought it would be fun to taste a while bunch of Merlots and Merlot-heavy blends from Washington, and this tasting was scheduled.
What I love about this crew is how low-key everyone is and our focus, in addition to evaluating the wines, was to have a great time. There wasn't a menu, just some thrown together snacks, and we tasting out our own paces with bagged up flights. Each of the first three flights were done blind and I really enjoyed chatting after each flight and the reactions as we did the big reveals. The flights were all done blind.
Flight One: Varietal Merlot (or close it it)
1A: slight amber/brick on the rim. Big nose that intially showed some age, and a slightly pruney note. I revisited the wine after the tasting was done and the prune had faded. Surprisingly tannic given the age. Powerful wine, lots of dark cherry, great grip. Very good.
1B: much fruitier nose than 1A. Very fresh. There was an interesting red apple note that I detected on the nose. Also quite tannic. There was a greenness to this and the tannins were somewhat drying. I like this, but I think it might be on its downhill slide. A little less concentration than 1A. Good.
1C: clearer ruby. Vanilla tinge on the nose. Sweeter inner-mouth essence that the prior two, but a very minerally finish. Not as good as A or B, and is clipped / short on the finish. Clenched.
1D: cherry candy nose which, to me, smells "cheap." Decidedly green, herbal, stemmy flavors. Not a fan.
1E: darker color. Nose has some funk / savoriness that wasn't apparent in any of the prior wines. Nice complexity. Very tannic still. Needs time, and is quite bitter right now. Not for me, at least not yet.
1F: lighter color. The nose was straight-up unpleasant with tons of oak and vanilla. Simple red cherry fruit and not much else. Not good.
1G: dark fruit, nice nose. Great balance. Dark cherry fruit, some raspberry, chocolate, and pepper. Very nice.
Wines:
1A: 2009 Leonetti Merlot Columbia Valley
1B: 2010 Cultura Winery Merlot Yakima Valley
1C: 2009 Owen Roe DuBrul Vineyard Merlot Yakima Valley
1D: 2017 Pepper Bridge Winery Merlot Walla Walla Valley (78% Merlot)
1E: 2017 Elevation Cellars Merlot Columbia Valley
1F: 2017 Love That Red Winery Muddy Truck Merlot Walla Walla Valley
1G: 2017 Love That Red Winery Morning Line Merlot Red Mountain
My favorite of the flight was the Leonetti, followed by the Cultura and then LTR Morning Line. None of us save the person who brought them had ever heard of Love That Red Winery. It was very surprising to us all that the same winery in the same vintage made a straight-up bad wine (1F) and a very nice wine (1G). I really loved the Leonetti and it showed how well some WA State Merlot can age. That said, drink up if you have any.
Flight Two: Somewhat Aged Merlot Blends
2A: nice, fresh nose with a pretty significant amount of tomato leaf / green. No bricking. Round on the palate with fine tannin. Long finish. Good stuff.
2B: beautiful nose. Floral notes under the dark red fruit. Oddly enough, I heard one taster say, "Yuck" as he smelled it. You have to love a variety of takes on the same wine! Full bodied, black cherry dominates, very well balanced. The only critique is it was somewhat nondescript.
2C: very funky nose (I thought maybe bretty, but others said no). This smelled over the hill and wasn't pleasant. Much better on the palate however. Stiffer tannins. Strange wine.
2D: the nose has a coffee note in there, with very nice complexity. Seems young, and needs time. Wow, this is great! Dark fruit predominates, but with excellent balance. Powerful showing for a Merlot blend.
Wines:
2A: 2012 Baer Winery Star (75% Merlot)
2B: 2012 Quilceda Creek Palengat Red Wine Columbia Valley (59% Merlot)
2C: 2008 Long Shadows Pedestal Merlot (81% Merlot)
2D: 2018 Long Shadoes Pedestal Merlot (82% Merlot)
The 2018 (2D) was my clear favorite and was just excellent. The Quilceda was my second favorite and the taster who said, "Yuck" brought the wine. It was darker and riper for sure, but I still really enjoyed it. I think I'll drink any Pedestals I have within 7-8 years, as the 2008 wasn't good, and that was a good vintage in WA.
Flight Three: 2018 Merlot Blends
3A: very expressive nose, but with some oak poking through the raspberry fruit. Great balance, very poised. Raspberry, cherry, and spice. Very nice, and what I would call a "pretty" and stylish wine.
3B: another great nose, darker with more spice. Plump dark cherry fruit on the palate and even some blueberry. Long, somewhat one-dimensional. I think this would have wide appeal with wine enthusiasts and non alike. Really good.
3C: very shy nose. I thought it might have some TCA taint, but I think I was alone in that. The palate really didn't show anything either. Strange.
3D: very different nose with some funk in there (animal-like). Expressive. Hoisin with dark cherry. Good complexity, if a bit thin. Too young.
3E: very light color compared to the rest. Christmas spices on the nose. Very tannic and astringent and, at least for now, too much so. Hold this, and not enjoyable right now.
Wines:
3A: 2018 DeLille Cellars D2 Columbia Valley (67% Merlot)
3B: Andrew Will Winery Two Blondes Vineyard Red (59% Merlot)
3C: Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Red Mountain (57% Merlot)
3D: Sleight of Hand Cellars The Archimage Columbia Valley (48% Merlot with 52% Cab Franc...an outlier)
3E: Wines of Substance BX Klein Vineyard Walla Walla Valley (41% Merlot)
My favorite was the AW Two Blondes, which stood as a stark contrast to what (to me) was a complete whiff by the second AW. DeLille was my second favorite, but I think a few didn't like the glossy oak.
Flight Four: a vertical of Betz Family Winer Clos de Betz (non-blind)
2008 Clos de Betz (63% Merlot): very slight bricking, but not much. The nose was full of over-the-hill notes of prune and oyster sauce. This surprised me a great deal. The palate was fresher, but it was probably best five years ago.
2009 Clos de Betz (65% Merlot): also a porty nose with ripe plums. Darker in apeparance with dark cherry and plum flavors, and some spice. Better than the 2008, but not awesome.
2010 Clos de Betz (58% Merlot): a very nice streak of mint on the nose with the dark cherry fruit and a tad bit of tobacco. Great nose! Dark fruit, very dense and powerful, still some tannin there. Excellent.
2011 Clos de Betz (67% Merlot): a more savory nose, almost with underripe fruit, but still enjoyable. Red fruit, leather. This could fool someone as a good Bordeaux. Nice.
The 2010 was absolutely killer and was my favorite of the flight. That very cool vintage produced some outstanding wines that are really still improving. The 2011 was from an even colder vintage and it showed with what, to me, came across as from fruit picked a tad too early. Once again, as with the 2008 Pedestal, this 2008 was not good.
Dessert Flight, non-blind
2011 Chateau Suduiraut Sauturnes - excellent, chock full of peach and apricot. Delicious.
1979 Yalumba "Dulcify" Vintage Port (Australia)
1982 Hardy's Vintage Port (Australia)
Both of the above were awesome. Tea-like in appearance, they were sweet, long, and really tasty.
This was a really fun tasting and, thanks to ample spitting and sparkling water, I was able to really hold the palate together through 20 reds. I think Kris is onto something in that Merlot really is excellent in this state, and can age very well. I don't think the blends were necessarily "better" than the 100% Merlots, but I would say that the number of wineries that do 100% Merlot really well are few and far between. Given the choice you're better off going with a blend that features Merlot. I still give an edge to Cab, but that's just my palate.
My WOTN: probably that 2010 Clos de Betz. The 2018 Pedestal was impressive, and I loved both the 2009 Leonetti and 2010 Cultura.
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Cheers!
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TN: A Deep Dive Into Washington State Merlot - 
), and to me it showed old early but I too revisited and it had really opened up and improved. Not quite passing 1B for my palate. The 1B herbal notes, Freelon pegged olive, really won me over. And I was pleasantly surprised that was also one of the wines I brought, Cultura, which I have used as a Yakima ringer to good effect now 3-4 times at these tastings. You guys need to go find them North of Zillah since they don't sell in Seattle. I need to talk to them about that. 
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