WA 90 Pts - According to Wine Advocate - The 2009 Merlot is an attractive, fleshy wine graced with expressive dark red fruit, flowers, sweet spices and licorice. The wine reveals gorgeous radiance and a supple, inviting personality ideally suited to drinking over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2015.
Winemakers Notes - The 2009 growing season, which may be the best of the decade, was marked by a long, cool summer that gave us dark, sun-soaked fruit that's rich and complex. This remarkable vintage has given us a Merlot with refined structure, alluring aromatics, and bold flavors.
The 2009 is a great year for this varietal. The purity of aromas and flavors is focused and alive – this is unmistakably Merlot. Predominantly I find delicious red fruit with a core of lush black fruit – red cherry, red plum, spice and berry with hints of eucalyptus, earth and smoke. There's lots of flesh here held together in a structure of fine, ripe tannins. - Shafer winemaker Elias Fernandez. Rated 90+