1999 | Leonetti Cellar | Merlot

It is a very dark wine with a brooding nose of dust, mint, bay leaf, and black fruits. The wine has signature Leonetti integrated oak, and harmonious, high toned fruit. This wine is rich, with excellent acid balance typical of the vintage, and ends with a long finish.

Reviews:

• James Suckling: Seductive for its balance, with ripe flavor and gentle texture. Firm tannins support lively berry and currant fruit, which echo beautifully on the finish, along with subtle shadings of black pepper and cedar. The fruit prevails and just sings on.

• Wine Enthusiast: This year’s version is dense and tannic. The immediate impression is of charcoal, ash and black cherries. As the wine opens up there are spices (black pepper, anise, bay leaf), roasted nuts, lush tannins and more fruits — berries, cherries and plums.

Producer Information

Leonetti Cellar is one of Walla Walla Valley's pioneering wine producers. It was established in 1977 with plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling, and now makes a range of wines from Cabernet, Merlot, Sangiovese and Aglianico. The estate draws upon several key vineyards throughout Walla Walla. These cover a wealth of terroir, on different aspects and slopes, and with a wide range of soil types based on the Valley's silty loam soils. This gives Leonetti the ability to carefully select sites for each variety, and grapes are planted in the vineyards in which they are judged to do best. Several blocks in the Seven Hills and Leonetti vineyards have older vines, which are used to make the top wines. Leonetti uses mostly French oak for aging, but the Sangiovese is aged in neutral puncheons to retain its character. Leonetti Cellars has become one of the region's more premium producers, commanding high prices for its range of mostly Bordeaux-inspired wines. The Reserve Bordeaux Blend has further increased the brand's prestige in recent years, receiving a 100-point score from the famously influential US wine critic Robert Parker.

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