At the request of some friends from back East we started this project in 2006.  The idea was to find great fruit from some of Oregon’s other great winegrowing regions and make small amounts of wine expressing those terroirs.  The 2007 Merlot is from an exceptional vineyard in the Columbia Valley where it ripens to perfection.  The wine is a dark ruby color with a pronounced aroma of cedar, ripe plums, cherry and cocoa with hints of bell pepper and dried herbs.  On the palate it offers mouth filling flavors of ripe plum, black cherry and earth with accents of pipe tobacco, berry and mint all held together by a full bodied structure with soft fine grained tannins.  This is a big wine that will complement full flavored dishes.