L’Ecole No. 41 Winery
L’Ecole is an iconic Walla Walla winery, known for high quality and good value red and white wines (particularly Chardonnay and an excellent Chenin Blanc). The winery is set in a 1915 schoolhouse and is the perfect location to taste some of the valley’s most consistent lineup of red and white wines. In fact, I can’t think of a better overall and more varied Washington winery tasting lineup, as you sample everything from Semillon, to Rose, to Syrah, to Red Blends. Linus from Sideways was wrong about Merlot. . . and had never tried the L’Ecole Merlot, a perennial value red wine. Winemaker Mike Sharon crafts his 2012 Estate Merlot as a dense and chewy wine that is ready to drink now. Their red wines have been critically acclaimed by the big four wine publications. I was particularly impressed with their red blends, the 2012 Perigee and the 2012 Ferguson, both rich and needing time in the bottle to fully express their fruit flavors. These wines have the potential to be monsters in a few years.
I’ve sampled the past nine vintages of L’Ecole Chardonnay and have found the quality to be incredibly consistent. Their Chardonnay (the 2012 was featured as one of my Top 20 wines of 2014) each year strikes a wonderful balance between fruit flavors and clean minerality. The 2013 L’Ecole Chardonnay is a slight step behind their 2012 but does not disappoint, with nice pear and green apple flavors with minerals. Many L’Ecole wines can be found for under 30 bucks and look for them at good northwest wine shops or online at http://www.lecole.com/. Here are some of the great wines that I recently sampled at L’Ecole No. 41. #lecole
2014 L’Ecole No. 41 Chenin Blanc- Pear, baked apple and cinnamon on the nose. Palate has red delicious, starfruit, pear and vibrant acidity. Delicious. -90
2013 L’Ecole No. 41 Semillon- Blended with 13% Sauvignon Blanc. Nose has cantaloupe and pear. Palate has butter, pear and red delicious. Very nice. -89
2013 L’Ecole No. 41 Chardonnay- Light aromas of baked apple and pear, followed by flavors of pear, golden delicious and starfruit in this easy drinking Chard with bright minerality. -90
2014 L’Ecole No. 41 Grenache Rose- Nose has strawberry, bubble gum and rose petals. Palate has strawberry, red cherry, and pear. Bright wine. -90
2012 L’Ecole No. 41 ‘Estate’ Merlot- Blended with 10% Cabernet and 10% Cab Franc. Nose has red bell pepper, red cherry, blackberry and nutmeg. Palate has red cherry, blackberry, and baking spices. Dense and chewy. Drink
2015 on. -91
2012 L’Ecole No. 41 ‘Walla Walla Valley’ Cabernet- This is sourced from 7 vineyards in the valley. Nose has prune, anise and blackberry. Palate has anise, mocha and graphite. Moderate tannins. Drink in 2017. -92
2012 L’Ecole No. 41 ‘Seven Hills Vineyard’ Syrah- Smoked meats and anise. Palate has blackberry, anise, black cherry and nice depth. Drink 2015 on. -91
2012 L’Ecole No. 41 Columbua Valley Syrah- Smoked meats and blackberry on the nose. Palate is plush and open with black cherry and blackberry flavors. Drink 2015 on. -91
2012 L’Ecole No. 41 ‘Perigee’- Seven Hills Vineyard fruit. Nose is a bit shut down with black cherry and blackberry. Palate has anise, black cherry, blackberry and tannins. Drink 2017 on. -92
2012 L’Ecole No. 41 ‘Ferguson’- Nose has black cherry, anise, and Rosemary. Palate has black cherry, anise, black olive and blackberry flavors. The wine is chewy and tannic. Drink after 2017. -93