Luke Merlot 2017
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James
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Intoxicating aromas of espresso, high-cacao chocolate, green pepper, barrel spice, raspberry and herbs lead to focused, fresh fruit flavors that coat the palate. There's a whole lot of acidity and firm tannin structure surrounding them, needing some time to settle in. It's a serious wine to find at this price. Give it a brief decant.
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James Suckling
A big, rich red with soft, round tannins and lots of ripe fruit and walnut and chocolate undertones. Full and flavorful. 75% merlot, 23% cabernet sauvignon, 1% malbec and 1% petit verdot.
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Tasting Panel
Dark ruby color; smooth, lush and ripe with juicy acidity, complexity and long, bright flavors.
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Wine Spectator
A handsome red, well-made and expressive, with focused black currant and dusty licorice flavors that finish with fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2024.
Other Vintages
2021-
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James
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Wine
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Jeb
Dunnuck
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Enthusiast
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Enthusiast -
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James
Suckling
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James
Suckling
Centered in the heart of the Columbia Valley and roughly 50 miles north of Red Mountain and the Yakima Valley sits the Wahluke Slope AVA, a yet to be discovered but dynamic winegrowing region that is producing some of the most exciting wines the state of Washington has to offer.
The true depth of a man’s character is often unknowable, but even one conversation was enough to convince me that LUKE was an imitation of no one. He revealed himself slowly, like a freed wind emerging from the shadow of a mountain. Seemingly ordinary at first, but undeniably complex. Bold and determined, but unabashedly generous.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Distinguished by a broad, south-exposed, uniform slope and landlocked by the Columbia River to its south and Saddle Mountains to its north, the Wahluke Slope AVA of Washington holds 15% of the total vine acreage of the state and takes its name from the Native American word for “watering place.”
Incidentally the Wahluke Slope AVA has one of the hottest and driest climates of the state so irrigation is not only essential, but also allows complete grower control of vine vigor. On top of its arid and warm environment, strong summer winds blow across this broad slope and ensure both smaller leaf size and grape clusters. The result is top quality wines with great concentration, phenolic ripeness, body and depth of flavor.
Vineyards cover the AVA from 425 to 1,480 feet along the slope. Its deep soils of wind-blown alluvium and sand with a depth, on average, of more than 5 feet along the continuous grade allow optimal drainage for the vines.
Thriving varieties include Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.
Merlots are rich in sweet, ripe cherry, red currant, raspberry and cocoa. Syrahs tend to express black and blue fruit along with savory notes. Wahluke Cabernets are rich in stewed red and black berries.