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750ml
Bottle:
$39.69
12 bottles:
$38.90
Aromas of currants, cedar and violets follow through to a medium body and fine tannins with a lovely, light velvety...
750ml
Bottle:
$15.94
$16.66
12 bottles:
$15.83
• 100% Merlot.
• Sourced from four vineyards in the Yakima Valley, Red Mountain and Columbia Valleys.
• Sees...
750ml
Bottle:
$14.20
12 bottles:
$13.92
The Block & Row Merlot leads with impressions of ripe cherries and fresh raspberries accented by seductive aromas of...
750ml
Bottle:
$17.86
$18.80
12 bottles:
$15.05
Intense aromatics of fresh, ripe raspberry and blueberry. On the palate, crushed ripe berries, vanilla and leather...
750ml
Bottle:
$13.93
12 bottles:
$13.65
Our Castle Rock Merlot is produced from grapes grown on hillside vineyards in Washington State’s prestigious...
750ml
Bottle:
$17.51
$18.43
12 bottles:
$12.36
Primary red and black berry fruit on the nose. Medium-bodied but very ripe, with bright acidity and a long, spicy...
750ml
Bottle:
$24.08
12 bottles:
$23.60
The wine's 7% Petit Verdot provides a nice structural backbone to support its copious amounts of fruit. Cranberry,...
750ml
Bottle:
$18.07
$20.08
12 bottles:
$15.04
The aromas of mocha and spice in this classic Merlot mingle with the richness of black cherry perfect for hearty...
750ml
Bottle:
$18.79
$20.88
12 bottles:
$16.63
Sourced from warm vineyard sites, Indian Wells wines showcase a signature fruit-forward, mouth-filling style....
750ml
Bottle:
$16.75
6 bottles:
$16.42
Showcasing the very best of Washington State Merlot, this bold wine has aromas of blueberry and marionberry with a...
750ml
Bottle:
$15.11
$15.91
12 bottles:
$11.52
Blueberry and cocoa aromas continue in the mouth. Velvety softness trails across the palate leaving a rich, fruity...
750ml
Bottle:
$10.45
$11.00
This medium-bodied Merlot delivers aromas of spice, plum and blackberry with the perfect balance of earth, cocoa and...
750ml
Bottle:
$14.64
$15.41
12 bottles:
$11.52
Columbia Winery Merlot is rich, full-bodied and fruit-forward. Flavors of ripe raspberry, plum, black cherry and a...
750ml
Bottle:
$10.94
This Merlot opens with aromas of blueberry, subtle spice and rose petals with hints of cocoa. Balanced in style, this...
750ml
Bottle:
$17.09
12 bottles:
$16.75
Black cherry, plum, and cocoa mingle with vanilla and dried herbs. The palate is rich and round, with chewy tannins...
750ml
Bottle:
$17.56
$18.48
12 bottles:
$13.18
Pensive, elegant, smooth and well-balanced. Red berry aromas give way to a vivid palate of bramble and raspberry.
750ml
Bottle:
$14.64
$15.41
12 bottles:
$11.52
Hogue Merlot lives up to this reputation. The aromas are earthy and toasty with black cherry, cocoa, and spice. The...
750ml
Bottle:
$23.94
12 bottles:
$23.46
Our Columbia Valley Merlot includes grapes from Klipsun, Ciel du Cheval, Champoux and Weinbau vineyards. The...
Merlot Primitivo United States Washington State 750ml
With its dark blue colored fruits and high juice content, Merlot varietal grapes have long been a favorite of wine producers around the globe, with it being found in vineyards across Europe, the Americas and elsewhere in the New World. One of the distinguishing features of Merlot grapes is the fact that they have a relatively low tannin content and an exceptionally soft and fleshy character, meaning they are capable of producing incredibly rounded and mellow wines. This mellowness is balanced with plenty of flavor, however, and has made Merlot grapes the varietal of choice for softening other, more astringent and tannin-heavy wines, often resulting in truly exceptional produce. Merlot is regarded as one of the key 'Bordeaux' varietals for precisely this reason; when combined with the drier Cabernet Sauvignon, it is capable of blending beautifully to produce some of the finest wines available in the world.
As with many European grape varietals, there is some debate regarding the precise origins of the Primitivo grape. Most people now agree that it probably came from Croatia, where it is still used widely in the production of red wine, and it known as Tribidrag. However, today it is a grape most commonly associated with the powerful red wines of Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot, where the intense sunshine and brisk Mediterranean breezes produce grapes of remarkable character and balance. Primitivo is a dark grape, known for producing intense, inky, highly tannic wines, most notably the naturally sweet Dolce Naturale and the heavy and complex Primitivo di Manduria wines. Primitivo tends to be naturally very high in both tannin and alcohol, making it ideal for both barrel and cellar ageing, which brings out its more rounded and interesting features.
Primitivo is not the easiest grape to grow or manage, and it has had something of a difficult century. Indeed, by the 1990s, there was little interest in Puglian wines in general, and winemakers were neglecting their Primitivo vineyards and looking to other, more commercially viable varietals. However, the last decade has seen this grape come well and truly back into fashion, with new techniques and a heightened interest in native Italian grape varietals bringing Primitivo back into the spotlight. It is now widely loved for its intensity and ability to be paired with strongly flavored foods.
Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.
Since it began in the 1820s, wine-production in Washington state has gone from strength to strength, with many of the finest United States wines coming out over the past twenty years hailing from this region. Today, the state is the second largest US producer of wines, behind California, with over forty thousand acres under vine. The state itself is split into two distinct wine regions, separated by the Cascade Range, which casts an important rain shadow over much of the area. As such, the vast majority of vines are grown and cultivated in the dry, arid desert-like area in the eastern half of the state, with the western half producing less than one percent of the state's wines where it is considerably wetter. Washington state is famed for producing many of the most accessible wines of the country, with Merlot and Chardonnay varietal grapes leading the way, and much experimentation with other varietals characterizing the state's produce in the twenty-first century.