Phelps Creek is hands down my favorite winery on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge. Their Pinots rival a lot of Willamette Valley wines at a fraction of the price. They also have one of the best bone dry Gevurtzs I have ever had. Rich Cushman in my mind is a real unsung hero in the Oregon wine industry. Mt. Defiance is an offshoot label from the folks at Phelps. This particular Merlot comes from a 12 acre parcel of the renowned Celilo Vineyard on the southeast facing slope of Underwood Mountain on the Washington side of the gorge.
The nose on this Merlot is not particularly fruit-driven. I get lots of red pepper flakes, sea salt, rust, and campfire-infused hoodie. The Mt. Defiance is medium bodied. It is super lively and not round, fleshy, and boring like the Merlots what’s his butt was screaming about in the movie Sideways. The fruit really pops on the flavor profile though with nice red raspberry and cranberry notes. Still it’s quite a dry wine with interesting secondary flavors of rhubarb and apple wood chips. A whopping 280 cases of this baby were produced and thus it can only be found online or at one of the wineries tasting rooms. On a side note, I think Merlot goes really well with roasted salmon and potatoes!
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