L'Ecole 41 Walla Walla Valley Estate Merlot 2020
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Suckling
James - Decanter
- Vinous
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This expressive Merlot reveals opulent aromatics of dark cherry and blackberry, fresh Mission figs, savory cedar, and coffee bean, completed with rose and a touch of sage. Its ripe rich texture is laced with delicate graphite notes, along with dark chocolate and plum, grounded with ample polished tannins. Altogether well-structured, it finishes fresh and focused.
Blend: 81% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This shows spicy and meaty aromas with walnut, cigar box and a backbone of dark and blue fruit. Full and fleshy with a compact stream of fine-grained tannins that are firm and have some chewiness. Lingering and chocolatey with a deep, dark-fruited finish.
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Decanter
Wildly elegant. The Walla Walla Merlot comes from two of L'Ecole's top sites, including the renowned Ferguson Vineyard. Purple florals are met with blue fruits, and hints of lavender. The palate is fresh with early-season blackberries and mint, hints of clove, black tea and umami. There is a real streak of graphite minerality that carries toward a refined finish.
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Vinous
The 2020 Merlot Estate is dark and youthfully backward, leading off with a delicate whiff of savory herbs and underbrush that slowly gives way to orange-tinged blackberries. This washes across the palate, cooling and sleek, with crisp wild berry fruits and gradually mounting tannins. Violet inner florals and hints of savory spice linger as the 2020 tapers off with admirable length, finishing classically dry.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A similar blend of 81% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2020 Merlot Walla Walla Valley comes all from the estate Seven Hills and Ferguson vineyards. It has classic Merlot red and black fruits, tobacco, and lead pencil notes and is medium-bodied, with more concentration and structure than the Columbia Valley Merlot. It's going to keep for a decade and is another terrific wine from this team
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Wine Enthusiast
This medium-bodied wine, which includes 14% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, brings muscular tannins and bright acidity to the table. Strawberry, watermelon and thyme aromas start the show, followed by mouthfilling flavors of roasted pork with a cherry glaze, tobacco and black tea.
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Founded in 1983 in the Walla Walla Valley, L'Ecole No 41 is one of Washington State's most iconic and oldest family-owned wineries. Housed in the historic Frenchtown School depicted on our label, we have earned international acclaim for producing distinctive wines of the highest quality. We craft ultra-premium wines that reflect the unmistakable typicity of Washington State and the unique terroir of our Walla Walla Valley vineyards.
Growing and making 100% of our wines, each bottle is handcrafted with a commitment to quality in the vineyards and the winery. More than three decades of winemaking experience, ongoing investments in our Walla Walla Estate Ferguson and Seven Hills Vineyards, and long term relationships with many of the most prominent vineyards in Washington State are central to our well-known reputation for quality and consistency across our wine portfolio. These tenets will continue to sustain L'Ecole well into the future.
L'Ecole is one of the most honored wineries in Washington State. We are proud to be recognized by Wine & Spirits Magazine as a Top 100 Winery of the Year for fourteen consecutive years. In 2014, Decanter awarded our 2011 Estate Ferguson the International Trophy for Best Bordeaux Blend in the World! In 2016, the 2013 Ferguson won the International Trophy for Best New World Bordeaux Blend from the Six Nations Wine Challenge.
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.