Do we ship to you?.
More wines available from L'ecole No. 41
750ml
Bottle:
$56.93
Blackberry, black pepper, mulberry and leather on the nose. Full-bodied with fine tannins. On the palate, it’s...
750ml
Bottle:
$25.94
$28.39
This has a perfumed nose of lavender, nutmeg, chocolate cherries, dark raspberries and blackcurrants. Firm and...
750ml
Bottle:
$38.79
$39.79
Expressive and precise, with deep currant, licorice and dark mocha flavors that take on structure toward...
750ml
Bottle:
$19.90
$20.80
This is a tasty chardonnay showing pastries, stone fruit and salted nuts on the nose. It’s full-bodied, creamy and...
750ml
Bottle:
$16.94
$18.74
Aromas of apricots and lemon pith, together with floral fragrance of lily-of-the-valley, elderflower and crushed...
More Details
Winery
L'ecole No. 41
Varietal: Merlot
Merlot is one of those grape varietals which produces wines loved by almost everybody. Single variety Merlot wines tend to be balanced, medium bodied and full of rich and juicy fruit flavors wherever they are produced, which is almost in every wine producing country across the globe. Their wide appeal is partly due to the fact that Merlot, unlike other dark blue grape varietals, have a thinner skin carrying a lower tannin content. This allows wineries to produce wines which are packed full of fruit-forward flavors, and yet have a softer, fleshier and more rounded character making them highly drinkable and easy to pair with a wide variety of foods. As one of the 'Bordeaux varieties', Merlot is used in the production of some of the world's finest and most expensive wines, but is reliable enough and of a high enough quality as a grape to produce a wide range of wines affordable for all.
Region: Washington State
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.
Country: United States
Whilst there are several strains of native grape varietals in the United States, it was the introduction of the European species which prompted the country to begin producing wines on a large scale. Over the past few centuries, experimentation and cross-breeding has produced great successes in regards to the quality and suitability of the fruit grown in states such as California, Oregon, Washington and New York, and the past few decades have seen New World wines from the United States reach much higher standards. Arguably the finest United States wines have always come out of California, where the climate and terrroir is most suitable for fine wine production. The masterful blending of classic grape varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, amongst others including Syrah and Chardonnay, have had world beating results in recent years, prompting many to suggest that there has never been a better time for buying and drinking United States wines.
Appellation: Walla Walla
The sub-region of Walla Walla in Washington State is widely regarded as being home to many of the best wines to come out of the United States in recent years. The sub-region itself is most renowned for the high quality Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot wines it produces, as these grapes are particularly well suited to the dry and arid soils and hot climate the region enjoys. Walla Walla is also renowned for the innovative approach many of its wineries have to the wine making process, and forward-thinking farming methods involving organic principles, sustainability, and biodynamics are relatively commonplace there, resulting in a fascinating range of wines which capture the spirit of modern America. The area is currently expanding fast, due to recent successful vintages, and more and more wineries open in Walla Walla each year to join in the sub-region's dedication to quality.