Canoe Ridge Vineyard closed their tasting room in July 2010 and the winery's future is unclear.

Avalon wine will keep previous vintage tasting notes on our site for reference.

Here's an excerpt of a press release from June 2010:

By Vicki Hillhouse, Walla Walla Union-BulletinMcClatchy-Tribune Regional News

June 17, 2010--The tasting room doors at one of Walla Walla's pioneer wineries will close late next month in a cost-cutting move by its London-based parent company.

Canoe Ridge Vineyard, a winery founded by local investors more than 20 years ago, will close the public tasting room at its 1905 Cherry St. Engine House on July 25, an employee confirmed. No further details could be disclosed. A call to California-based Director of Communications Maire Griffin was not returned for comment.

The tasting room is reportedly one of several from Washington to California facing closure by corporate parent company Diageo Plc, the international drinks giant that owns Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Captain Morgan and Jose Cuervo, among many others. Diageo announced last month plans to restructure its U.S. wine business, Diageo Chateau & Estate wines. Sales of the company's U.S. wines were reportedly socked by the recession and have been slow to recover.

Black cherry, chocolate, toasted espresso bean, fresh saddle leather, chewy but well integrated tannins, just a huge, complex, world class Merlot. Made by John Abbott before he left to start his own winery, this wine is quite special.

From the winery: "The black cherry, raspberry and chocolate aromas found in our Canoe Ridge Merlot are even more intense in this reserve bottling. The concentration of these flavors allows the use of more new oak barrels without overpowering the fruit flavors. The higher level of oak adds more richness and roundness to the palate and adds smoke and sweet toastiness to the aroma. We blended in a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc to fill out the middle palate and to add additional aromas and complexity."

ABOUT THE VINTAGE The 2001 vintage continued a four-year streak of exceptional vintages at our Canoe Ridge Vineyard estate and in the Columbia Valley as a whole. We enjoyed warm, dry growing conditions with average crop levels, which is perfect for Merlot. The grape berries and clusters were small, in turn, yielding concentrated, richly-colored wine.

ABOUT THE VINEYARD Our Reserve Merlot is grown primarily in a vineyard block that shows a great balance in the soil with the fine sandy loam prevalent at our vineyard overlying volcanic basalt. This mixture slows vine growth, which produces grape clusters and berries that are small and very concentrated in flavor and color. Our estate vineyard's unique location at a broad expanse of the Columbia River in eastern Washington allows it to grow superior grapes. The vast river moderates the temperature, extending the grapes' hangtime on the vines during the long summer, yet protecting the vines in the winter. The vineyard's location on the northeast side of the ridge protects it from wind damage. It is one of the largest estate-owned single vineyards in the state.

ABOUT THE WINE For our 2001 Canoe Ridge Vineyard Reserve we blended one barrel of Lot 2 Cabernet Sauvignon with our Lot 10 Merlot. The lot numbers come from our practice of fermenting the wine in small lots so we can extract the best expression of different blocks of the vineyard. Depending on the lots, we used different fermentation practices, yeast strains and barrel coopers to create individual components that make up the final blend. In 2001, Lot 10 was the Canoe Crew favorite. The black cherry, raspberry and chocolate aromas found in our estate Canoe Ridge Vineyard Merlot are even more intense in our Reserve bottling. These concentrated flavors allow us to use more new oak barrels to bring richness and roundness to the palate and sweet toasty aromas without overpowering the fruit flavors. The addition of one barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon adds to the full mouthfeel plus brings additional aromas and complexity.

FOOD RECOMMENDATIONS The richness of this Reserve Merlot makes it a good partner with equally fullflavored foods such as roast lamb, New York steak or duck glazed with a dried cherry sauce to match the wine's fruit. During the holidays, its smooth tannins and luscious fruit make it a good choice with roast turkey stuffed with herbs.