Ferguson
2014
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...
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Ferguson is L’Ecole No 41’s newest single vineyard estate Bordeaux blend from the Walla Walla Valley. In the tradition of Perigee – Seven Hills Vineyard and Apogee – Pepper Bridge Vineyard, Ferguson reflects a unique micro-climate and geological profile. This wine shares its name with our newest estate vineyard, also called Ferguson, of which L’Ecole is the sole wine producer.Ferguson’s flavor profile is distinctly influenced by its basalt soil. With complex aromas this wine offers bold dark fruit, espresso, chicory and leather with rich graphite flint and iron minerality. Intricate layers in the mid-palate are buoyed with balanced, natural acidity leading to a robust, persistent finish.
I love the fragrant black-raspberry and violet notes that pull you into this concentrated yet elegant red. Great tannin structure and freshness that could wake the dead. The finish is super long, focussed and minerally. A blend of 62 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 26 per cent merlot, six per cent cabernet franc and six per cent malbec. From organically grown grapes.
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The 2020 Red Wine Estate Ferguson Vineyard is impossible to ignore, opening with a dusty bouquet that blends shavings of cedar and savory spices with mentholated herbs and hints of dried black cherries. This is elegant and lifted, with a radiant core of crisp red and blue fruit that flows beneath an air of violet florals. It leaves chalky tannins and a whisper of mentholated herbs, tapering off structured yet still quite fresh, with a lingering tinge of licorice.
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A wine of structure from the Ferguson Vineyard and Walla Walla's iconic L'Ecole No 41 shows ample tannin and savoury yet full-bodied character. Aromas of dried violets, fig and blackberry compote meld with savoury herbs and whiffs of stone-driven minerals. The palate shows bay leaf and eucalyptus underlining stewed blue fruits, barrel spice and pencil lead. This wine definitely needs time to come into itself.
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Bright ruby-red. Alluring scents of cassis, mocha, coffee and tobacco leaf, plus a hint of brown spices. Quite fine-grained and stylish but a bit youthfully imploded, conveying an impression of density without weight. The challenge in 2015 was to keep the wine's phenolics in check, noted owner Clubb, who admitted that a couple of the earlier vintages of this bottling may have been overextracted even if they're aging nicely. This site enjoys a long growing season and yields thick-skinned grapes and powerful phenolic structure. "Everything here pumps up the tannins," says Clubb. Expect this bottling to get more Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot in the future.
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This wine comes from a recently planted area of valley, high on a ridge top. A blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 6% Malbec, the aromas boast high-toned notes of mineral, herb, cherry, licorice and dark fruit. The cranberry and cherry flavors bring a sense of concentration and richness. It shows well now, but should only get better with some additional time in the bottle.
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