<strong> # 5 on Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2011</strong>; A tremendous wine that shows how Merryvale is absolutely at the top of its game. Impeccable in structure with refined tannins that are soft and firm at the same time and a fine cut of acidity. Entirely dry the Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend is awesome in blackberry cherry cassis and oak flavors with complexities of anise soy sauce grilled meats and minerals. Beyond the particulars it just feels dramatic and rich in the mouth. A great wine that should develop in the bottle over the next decade. Cellar selection. -S.H.

This very expressive and highly extracted young wine is no shrinking violet but it is big without being too big and it takes its cues from lavish fruit more than from runaway ripeness. While it stints not at all in terms of very sweet oak its themes of blackcurrants olives and loamy soils are always in the fore. Its considerable tannins are so finely fit that it is likely to trick some impatient Cabernet fans into serving it soon but this is one for the cellar and pulling its cork in fewer than five or six years would be a genuine shame.

The flagship red wine the 2008 Profile is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon 13% Petit Verdot 6% Malbec and 1% Cabernet Franc. Dusty loamy soil aromas intermixed with graphite blueberry blackberry charcoal and camphor jump from the glass of this complex inky/purple-colored offering. Full-bodied and backward with undeniable potential this young red classic Napa blend of Bordeaux grapes should hit its stride in 4-5 years and last for three decades. A compelling wine it is further evidence of the remarkable progress Merryvale has made over the last decade. Moreover it is the finest wine they have ever produced.