Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Merryvale's Profile remains a star year after year. The '04 is nearly all Cabernet Sauvignon, and stuns with its power. With a smooth, complex tannin structure, it's rich in currants, blackberries and cedar, but is too young to open now. Should hit its stride around 2010 and continue to develop for some years after. Tasted twice, with consistent results. Cellar Selection
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Connoisseurs' Guide
This complex mix of concentrated black fruits is aided and abetted by scents of soils, graphite and creamy oak in its rich, slightly spicy and still developing aromas. Its supple entry and hints of polish promise even more and better to come with bottle age, and even slight hickory chip astringency at the very close is nothing to worry about.
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.