The 2005 Merlot contains 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec aged for 18 months in 54% new French oak. Purple-colored, it delivers notes of cedar, spice box, red currants, cassis, and black currants. The entry onto the palate is slightly austere. There is noticeable tannin and a firm finish. A few years of cellaring may round out the wine but the safer path is to drink it near term while the fruit holds. Tel. (509) 525-6502; www.pepperbridgewinery.com

The blend includes 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec, all estate-grown. The aromas are intense and seductive, layered with flower, berry and clove. Dense and youthful, the wine has compact black fruits, streaks of smoke and a strong flavor of clove. It’s a big wine, with mass and depth. The new oak is pulled back relative to this winery’s earlier vintages, to good effect, and the fruit can more than carry it. It changes rapidly in the glass, suggesting that once it’s past its baby fat stage it will show still more complexity, while retaining an elegant precision.——P.G.(5/1/2008)—— 91