Merryvale Profile 2019

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.

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.

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. This vintage ended up being 99% Cabernet Sauvignon.

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. 823 cases made.

The 2019 Profile shows good depth and intensity in its inky red fruit, spice, tobacco, espresso and copious new oak. There is good depth here and plenty of potential, but the cooperage probably needs to be more measured to the wine's mid-weight structure. All that said, the 2019 is impeccably crafted.

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.