Washington State: America's Most Underrated Merlot

While California Merlot was fighting its reputation crisis, Washington State was quietly building one of the most compelling cases for American Merlot in the world. Today's episode covers the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla appellations, the specific climate conditions that make Washington so well-suited to Merlot, and the producers, led by the legendary Leonetti Cellar, who have spent decades proving that Washington State belongs in any serious conversation about world-class Merlot.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Daily Decant, your five-minute briefing on the world of wine. Each episode delivers practical insights to help you choose, order, and talk about wine with more confidence in everyday social settings. Let's get into today's decant. It's Thursday, we are doing Merlot week, and today we go to the place that I think makes the strongest current argument for American Merlot. Not California, where the story is mostly about recovery and rehabilitation, but Washington State, where the story is about a region that has been quietly building a genuinely world-class reputation for Merlot for decades, largely without the attention it deserves. The main growing areas are in eastern Washington, east of the Cascade Mountains, and a high desert landscape of rolling volcanic hills, ancient Linkbed sediment, and dramatically continental climate. This is a fundamentally different growing environment from coastal California, and those differences matter enormously for Merlot. So what makes the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla particularly well suited to Merlot? Three things. First, the dramatic dernal temperature variation. Eastern Washington experiences some of the most extreme day-to-night temperature swings of any American wine region, sometimes swinging 25 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit between afternoon and midnight during the growing season. Those cold nights slow the ripening process, preserve natural acidity, and build aromatic complexity in a way that warmer, more consistent California nights often don't. The result is Merlot with genuine freshness and tension alongside its richness, exactly the combination that makes right bank Bordeaux so compelling. Second is the long summer days. The Columbia Valley sits at a latitude where summer days can be 17 hours long, providing extended sun exposure that drives full, even ripening across the vineyard. Third, the well-draining volcanic and sandy loam soils that stress the vines appropriately, controlling vigor and concentrating flavor without irrigation-driven excess. The producer that built Washington Merlot's reputation, and that remains its most celebrated expression, is Leonetti Cellar in Walla Walla. Founded in 1977 by Gary Figgins, Leonetti was Walla Walla's first winery, and its early Merlots in the late 1970s and early 80s earned critical attention that helped put Washington State on the national wine map. Today, run by the Figgins family across multiple generations, Leonetti's wines remain among the most sought after and allocated in the state. Their Merlot and Reserve blend are available only through a mailing list with demand far exceeding supply. A situation that speaks directly to the quality of the wines and the loyalty they inspire. The style is more structured and age-worthy than most California Merlot, with a mineral backbone of dark fruit concentration, consistently draws comparisons to Ceres Pomerol. Beyond Leonetti, the Washington State Merlot landscape includes several other producers worth knowing. LaCole No. 41, one of the most consistent and reliable states in Walla Walla, producing excellent Merlot at more accessible price points, and with substantially better availability than the allocation-only Leonetti. Their Walla Walla Valley Merlot at around $35 is one of the most honest and reliable American Merlots at that price point, and their Seven Hills Vineyard bottling a step above it shows what the region's best single vineyard fruit can deliver. Dunham Cellars is powerful as well, structured Walla Walla Merlot from Syria's estate vineyards, often overlooked but consistently impressive. And Northstar, a Columbia Valley producer making Merlot focused wines with real ambition and good critical recognition. And for the Columbia Valley more broadly, Columbia's Crest Grand Estates Merlot at around $15 to $18 represents some of the best value in American Merlot, producing a genuinely characterful wine from quality Columbia Valley fruit at a price that makes it an easy, everyday choice and an exceptional gift. The practical takeaway here is that if you've been exploring Merlot this week and want a domestic bottle that rivals what the right bank of Bordeaux produces at a fraction of the price, Washington State is where you look. A LaCole number 41 Walla Walla Merlot at around $35 to $40 competes with Pomerol at twice the price. Columbia Crest Grand Estates at $15 is one of the best everyday red wine values in the entire country. And if you can get on Leonetti's mailing list, the weight is worth it. The combination of climate, volcanic soils, and a generation of careful, committed win makers has made Washington State's Merlot story one of the most quietly compelling in American wine. And the fact that it remains largely under the radar compared to Napa Valley is precisely what makes it such a compelling buy right now. The prices reflect the obscurity, not the quality. Tomorrow, the world beyond California and Washington, including a Tuscan wine that costs as much as some burgundy first gross, it's made entirely from the grape most people think of is unambitious. You won't want to miss it. That's today's Daily Decant. If you found this helpful, be sure to subscribe and share with your friends so you can continue building your wine knowledge in just a few minutes a day. See you tomorrow for the next decant.