1991 Leonetti Cellar Washington 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.”

Washington State, with 59,000 vineyard acres, is the second largest producer of wine in the United States. Wine was made in the state as early as the mid-19th century, but Prohibition and, later, restrictive state laws killed the wine making business in the 20th century until the 1960s, when laws changed and large and small producers started making wines. An influential horticulturalist and agriculture professor name Walter J. Clore studied various grape clones in the 1960s to find the best ones for Washington, and by the 1970s Yakima Valley, Walla Walla and Columbia Valley had all become important grape growing areas. The best vineyards in the state are east of the Cascade Mountain range, where hot dry summers and cold winters are conducive to successful viticulture. Numerous grape varieties are grown, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc at the head of the list.

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.