Merlot
2018
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
Perfectly dry harvest weather extended hang-time resulting in rich color and vibrant fruit flavors, another great vintage for Washington State. A late bud-break in mid-April was followed by a warm May with rapid canopy growth. A quick, even bloom set a uniform crop. A cool June contributed to healthy berry growth. July and early August were warm, with occasional heat spikes. Canopies were managed to avoid sunburn and irrigation was micromanaged. Intense cluster thinning was required to control yields. Veraison tracked 2017 in Walla Walla and was slightly ahead in other regions of the state. A brief rainfall shifted early September into cooler weather leading to two months of near-perfect weather conditions for final fruit maturity. Higher sugars were balanced against higher acid levels and wonderfully intense color and tannin extraction, big fruit flavors, and overall balanced structure. Another strong Washington vintage.
Over 35 years of meticulous vineyard management and winemaking experience are fundamental to the quality of the L'Ecole no. 41 wines and their reputation for excellence. They are engaged in growing and making 100% of their 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 small oak barrels, 30% new, with four rackings over 18 months.
Exhibiting complex layers of raspberry, plum, and black cherry, accented by crushed roses, pencil shavings, and smoky cedar nuances, this full-bodied, vigorous Merlot bursts with flavours of macerated berries, coffee, and kirsch. Charming and ripe, it firms up to finish with a satisfying longevity.
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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