Winemaker Notes
Look for cherry, blackberry, cedar and floral notes in this wine. The long mouthfeel and very well integrated tannins make this a powerful, yet easy to drink Cabernet reflecting a rich, beautiful vintage. This wine sets the standard for quality for Napa Cabernets and will age beautifully for the next 15 years.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a dense and layered red with blackberries, blueberries, blackcurrants and creamy tannins. Pine needle undertones. Really impressive integration and mouthfeel. Superb finish
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is blended with 5% Malbec and aged in 50% new French oak for 22 months. It offers juicy black fruit and pillowy, expansive tannins that provide firm structure and weight. The acidity provides tension against the wine's fruit-forward nature, with an accent of clove in the background.
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Wine Spectator
An amazing mix of taut licorice, dark berry, cedar, crushed rock and graphite flavors. Amply entertaining, finishing with a long, full finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The classic Napa bottling is the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, and it has a little Graves-like minerality to go with plenty of dark fruit, leafy herbs, and damp earth aromas and flavors. Rounded, plump, and nicely textured, with good acidity, it's a seriously good wine that's well worth checking out. This cuvee spent 22 months in 50% new French oak.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon has an herbal nose with bay leaves, red and black currants and earth suggestions. Medium to full-bodied, the muscular palate has chewy, firm tannins, decent expression and an earthy finish.
Merryvale Vineyards is a family-owned Napa Valley winery dedicated to passionate winemaking and the fine art of living well. For the past 25 years Merryvale has been turning exceptional Napa Valley grapes into world class wine. Merryvale is world renowned for rich, powerful Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, the iconic Bordeaux-style red blend, Profile, and our everyday drinking, fruit driven brand, Starmont. Merryvale's historic building was the first winery built in the Napa Valley after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, and has become a must see attraction for visitors to the valley.
Merryvale is committed to protecting and preserving the environment through conservation, renewable energy and sustainable farming practices at our three estate vineyards. Merryvale has received Napa Green Vineyard, Napa Green Winery and Bay Area Green Business certifications.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.