Made with the addition of 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec, the 2018 Merlot is robust and juicy in the glass, offering up aromas of dusty plum, baked earth and elegant oak spices. Medium to full-bodied and with 14.9% alcohol, the wine displays a firm mouthfeel with juicy and dusty dark-berried flavors, with gripping tannins across the mid-palate. The wine concludes with a ripe, yet firm tannic edge on the persistent, lingering finish with a sensation of elevated alcohol in the esophagus. The wine rested for 22 months in 65% new French oak. Just over 3,500 bottles were filled.

The 2012 Walla Walla Merlot is a blend of 87% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc that spent 15 months in 40% new French and American oak. It offers lots of coffee bean, ripe plum and currant fruit, and lots of wild-herb characteristics to go with a medium to full-bodied, ripe, plump, character-filled style on the palate. This is a sexy, fruit-driven beauty to drink over the coming 4-5 years.