2011 Leonetti Cellar Walla Walla Merlot

Leonetti Cellar was the first winery in Washington State to produce wines that earned acclaim from out-of-state collectors. Founded in 1977 by Gary Figgins, who still runs the winery with his wife and son, the Walla Walla Valley winery today includes 214 acres of vineyards planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Though Figgins had no formal training in winemaking when he and his wife started making wine in the 1970s, Figgins comes from a family of Italian immigrants who homesteaded in the Walla Walla Valley in the early 20th century. His grandparents served him diluted wine when he was a child, and his interest in winemaking was piqued in the 1970s when he visited Napa Valley. Leonetti’s signature wines are big, lush Cabs and Merlots and Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that “no one on earth makes Cabernets and Merlots with quite the same panache as Gary Figgins…They are sexy, lush and boisterous.”

Walla Walla Valley AVA likes to call itself the Napa Valley of Washington, and given the concentration of well-reviewed wineries in the appellation, the comparison is understandable. The Walla Walla appellation is comprised of 340,000 acres, of which 1,200 acres are vineyards. Walla Walla is located in the southeastern corner of Washington and it extends slightly into northeastern Oregon. It is named after the Walla Walla River Valley, and the city of Walla Walla is the commercial center of Washington’s wine industry. The city was founded in the 1840s by the Hudson’s Bay Company as a trading post, but as early as the 1850s farmers were planting grapes for winemaking. Prohibition shuttered winemaking in the early 20th century, but a winemaking renaissance started in the 1970s when Leonetti Cellars, still one of the state’s most acclaimed wineries, started producing acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon. Walla Walla’s AVA status was awarded in 1984 and today there are more than 100 wineries. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most frequently planted grape, followed by Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese Chardonnay and Viognier.

The Merlot grape is such a deep blue that it is named for the blackbird. It’s an early ripening grape and one of the primary varietals used In Bordeaux. Merlot is also grown in the "International style," which is harvested later to bring out more tannins and body.