Carl’s Pond Winery 2011 Merlot, Yakima Valley, $16

Co-winemaker Gary Sleeger married into the family of Carl Tweiten, an Alaskan miner in the 1930s who went on to develop a nursery and pond in Gig Harbor, Wash. He and Frank Reale create their wines on the Kitsap Peninsula, but their fruit comes from the Yakima Valley, in this case, Grove Vineyard near Prosser. Aromas and flavors of plum, blueberry and blackberry gather up hints of coconut, anise and lavender amid a medium structure that leads with cranberry acidity rather than tannin.

Rating: Excellent

Production: 126 cases

Alcohol: 13.4%

Winery website