Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship from Merryvale is the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Profile, a blend of 99% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc that’s all from the estate vineyard and spent 23 months in 80% new barrels. Just classic Napa Valley Cabernet goodness, with lots of cassis and currant fruits, notes of spice, graphite, and chocolate, full-bodied richness, and great overall balance, it’s impeccably made and well worth seeking out. I can’t imagine it not evolving for 25+ years if well stored.
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Wine Enthusiast
This massively structured and intensely flavorful wine is one for the cellar, as its firm tannins and deep black fruit flavors are impressive now but will only get better integrated and lead to more complex flavors with time. The wine is rich in black cherries, blueberries and dark chocolate.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offered another opportunity to taste the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Profile, how could I refuse? Framed by cedar and vanilla, the cassis and black cherries seem less dense and fudge-like than a year ago. It's still a full-bodied, broad, generous wine, intense without being overly heavy and overall nicely balanced.
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Wine Spectator
A lush, dark and slow-moving wine, offering a steady wave of mulled black currant and steeped blackberry flavors, with roasted vanilla, loam and tobacco leaf notes. The muscular finish is a touch stolid now, but there's depth. This is worth cellaring to let the Cab Franc component unwind a bit more. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2023 through 2036.
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James Suckling
Black fruits, dark chocolate, dried thyme and lavender on the nose. Some charcoal and roasted espresso. Full body with plush tannins. Rich and creamy with a deep core of dark fruit and chocolate. Drink from 2023.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.