Best Buy! TruthTeller Winery’s Chris and Dawn Loeliger recently launched this quirky, nicely priced tier, and credited their assistant winemaker Keith Whisenhunt with the winning blend of Merlot (80%) and Cabernet Sauvignon that emerged as one of the tasting’s highest scoring wines and a unanimous choice for a gold medal. It was no surprise considering its pedigree — Stillwater … [Read more...] about The Miscreant Project 2018 The Right Bastard, Columbia Valley $19.00
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Washington Hills Winery 2018 Merlot, Columbia Valley $9.99
Best Buy! The first time our panel staged a comparative tasting for a magazine was in 1998. The focus was Merlot, and one of the best was the Washington Hills 1995 Merlot. Twenty-two years later, this Precept brand ranks among the most delicious Merlots, and the price has remained $10. Its fruit-forward nose of blueberry and plum includes a whiff of a coastal breeze. There is … [Read more...] about Washington Hills Winery 2018 Merlot, Columbia Valley $9.99
Be Human 2019 Merlot, Columbia Valley $17.00
Best Buy! One of the least expensive examples of Merlot also ranked near the top, thanks to Ivy League-trained winemaker Joshua Maloney and the Aquilini family’s vast plantings across Red Mountain and the Horse Heaven Hills. The Cornell graduate’s use of American oak, 33% new wood, adds vanilla, chocolate and baking spice to the profile of blackberry, plum and violets, which … [Read more...] about Be Human 2019 Merlot, Columbia Valley $17.00
Growers Guild Wine Co., 2019 Merlot, Columbia Valley $16.00
Best Buy! Among the bright spots in our comparative tasting was this young second label for Owen Roe that has winemaker Jacki Evans’s fingerprints all over it. There’s a remarkable elegance to its profile of black cherry, black currant, violets and cocoa, framed by delicious acidity and silky tannins. Longtime fans of David O’Reilly’s Sharecropper Pinot Noir program know he … [Read more...] about Growers Guild Wine Co., 2019 Merlot, Columbia Valley $16.00
Washington Hills Winery 2018 Merlot, Columbia Valley $9.99
Best Buy! The first time our panel staged a comparative tasting for a magazine was in 1998. The focus was Merlot, and one of the best was the Washington Hills 1995 Merlot. Twenty-two years later, this Precept brand ranks among the most delicious Merlots, and the price has remained $10. Its fruit-forward nose of blueberry and plum includes a whiff of a coastal breeze. There is … [Read more...] about Washington Hills Winery 2018 Merlot, Columbia Valley $9.99