Merlot
2010
A family-owned business, L'Ecole Nº 41 was founded by Jean and Baker Ferguson. Today, the winery is owned and operated by their daughter and son-in-law, Megan and Martin Clubb. Built in 1915, the schoolhouse is located in historic Frenchtown, a small community just west of Walla Walla, Washington. Frenchtown derived its name from the many French-Canadians who settled the valley during the early 1800s. Legend has it, these men of French descent were raising grapes and producing wine. By the...
See the L'ECOLE NO. 41 detail page for more information on this brand
A prolonged winter and cool spring set the stage for a later than normal bud break, occurring about the first of May. Cool season worries quickly abated, with near perfect weather in June. A sunny, hotter than normal July surged heat units, creating a delicate balancing act in managing deficit irrigation. We were a little more aggressive in green thinning and west canopy thinning for sunburn, reducing crop yields a little below normal. Harvest started early in the second week of September, ramping up quickly with ideal weather in September and early October. Compressed into an unusual one month harvest, we finished October 10th with our last fruit picked on the very day of a premature freeze in Eastern Washington.
Nearly 30 years of meticulous vineyard management and winemaking experience are fundamental to the quality of our wines and reputation for excellence. We are engaged in growing and making 100% of our wines.
Each lot was hand harvested ripe and gently crushed into 1.5 and 5 ton stainless steel fermenters. Gentle handling of the fruit through hand punch downs and gravity assisted movements were utilized throughout the entire winemaking process. The wine was cleanly racked to 100% small oak barrels, 30% new, with four rackings over 18 months.
L’Ecole No 41 is recognized as one of Washington State’s top producers of premium Merlot and this wine delivers with great structure, color and balanced acidity.
Rich with enticing aromas of plum, nutmeg, and clove this dark and brooding Merlot shows a robust core of black cherry and blackberry which features into the seamless finish of fine-grained tannin and spice.
Ripe black plum and chocolate covered dark kirsch aromas dance with baking spices. The palate is refined and elegant with a terrific mouthfeel and outstanding length. Rich dark fruit flavours collide with minerals, smoke and chocolate cake notes.
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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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I like the tar and bark undertones to the blackberry fruit. Some orange peel fragrance. It’s bright and lively with a full body, ripe tannins and excellent freshness
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If a cup of Indonesian coffee served black with a slice of blueberry pie and a chunk of dark chocolate sounds appealing, you are in the right place. The wine's slick and slippery texture accompanies sweet and savory flavors like blackberry compote with roasted rabbit. The tannins are as sturdy as a slab of granite.
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Blackberry and violet aromas with hints of hazelnut. Medium-bodied and layered. Polished tannins and a flavorful finish.
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A variety of top sites are blended together for this wine, including Seven Hills, Bacchus, Dionysus, Klipsun and Pepper Bridge. It offers bright aromas of raspberries and chocolate, with herb and floral accents. The palate is flavorful and full, delivering a lot of enjoyment, with the tannins adding some heft.
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Aromas of toast, coffee and char lead to plentiful red currant and coffee flavors. There's depth to it, but like many wines from this vintage, there's also a sense of grace and liveliness. Tasty stuff at a great price that will also hold well for a few years in the cellar.
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A perfumed mix of wild blueberries, lavender and sage are contrasted by hints of camphor as the 2019 Merlot Columbia Valley blossoms in the glass. This is soft and textured with a cooling wave of red and blue fruits carried across a core of brisk acidity. The 2019 finishes lightly structured and long, while leaving sweet inner herbal tones to linger.
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The 2018 Merlot Columbia Valley delivers some seriously good value. Rich black cherry compote and blackberry cordial tones combine with herbal accents on the palate.
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This wine comes from an assortment of top sites across the Columbia Valley and it shows. Aromas of dried herbs, pencil lead, toasty spice and blue and red fruit lead to sweet, rich and appealing flavors. There's intensity but also a good sense of acid and chalky tannic structure backing things up, along with undeniable deliciousness.
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Firm, focused and dense, with green olive—accented black fruit flavors, finishing with licorice and fine-grained tannins galore. This has depth and length.
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Straight-forward and appealing for its well-focused currant and dusty herb accents that finish with zesty tannins. Drink now through 2027.
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Ferguson, Seven Hills and Pepper Bridge fruit makes up 60% of this wine, with the balance from Candy Mountain, Dionysus, and Klipsun. The aromas aren't very giving out of the gate, opening to show notes of cocoa, raspberry and cherry. There's plenty of goodness to be found on the palate, which shows finesse, appeal and bountiful structure behind it all. It will have a long life ahead of it. As always with L'Ecole, quality and value are at the fore.
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Foresty and even a touch meaty, this merlot has a black-cherry core of flavor that’s deep and satisfying; cedar and redwood tips give the wine a subtly savory finish. It’s a complex merlot for rosemary roast chicken.
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Lifting up with a cool-toned freshness and dusty florals for days, the 2020 Merlot keeps me coming back to the glass. A burst of ripe blueberry and cherry greets the palate, motivated by zesty acidity as sweet spices cascade throughout. The 2020 is gently tannic yet lively and fresh, tapering off with medium length to nuances of clove and liquid lavender.
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Black cherries, leafy herbs, leather, and some earthy notes all emerge from the 2021 Merlot Columbia Valley, a plump, rounded, medium-bodied Merlot that has outstanding balance as well as length. I'd happily drink a bottle any time over the coming 7-8 years.
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Many of the Northwest’s most storied vineyards for Bordeaux varieties — Klipsun, Bacchus and Dionysus at Sagemoor, Weinbau, StoneTree, Pepper Bridge and the estate Seven Hills — contribute to this big, full-bodied expression of Washington Merlot. Managing winemaker Marty Clubb and winemaker Mike Sharon invested 18 months in 30 percent new oak, which is revealed in aromas of coconut and cocoa with black cherry and blackberry. Inside, it’s akin to a spoonful of cherry cobbler with a mouthfilling blend of huckleberry and pomegranate acidity. Balanced plum-skin tannins allow for a finishing dash of white pepper. This is among the largest bottlings from the historic little schoolhouse in west of Walla Walla, and it has national distribution. In Clubb’s native state of Texas, they’d enjoy this with beef.
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