Showing the complexity inherent in 20-year-old vines, our 2009 Canoe Ridge Vineyard Merlot offers lush dark fruit and cinnamon spice aromas. The focused black cherry and plum flavors, with pronounced minerality and toffee, are the signature of our estate vineyard in Horse Heaven Hills. Soft nuances of vanilla from oak aging add to the wine's elegance. Smooth and velvety, our Merlot is immediately approachable, yet has the necessary tannin structure to make it cellar worthy. It complements many entrées, including lamb rubbed with Middle Eastern spices, roast duck with a dried cherry sauce or grilled portabella mushrooms. We hand sorted the clusters for optimum quality, and then destemmed and lightly crushed the grapes for fermentation. Gentle pump-overs, extended maceration and malolactic fermentation developed round, supple flavors. The winemaker chose a majority of French barrels, complemented by Hungarian and American, to integrate an array of elegant oak aromas into the wine.