by Patchen Markell » Mon Apr 02, 2018 9:39 pm
Back in the day, Merryvale was the last stop on our family wine-tasting trips in Napa, because, well, their tasting room was open half an hour later than everyone else's, and they were conveniently located across a parking lot from Michael Chiarello's Tra Vigne. My father was a club member. When he died a few years ago, his sister and I divided his cellar, which consisted of two or three cases of stuff he had stored in a metal lockbox in his garage in San Francisco; this was one of those bottles. The Merryvale 2000 Napa Valley Profile was their prestige Bordeaux-style blend -- "Meritage," as they called it then (what ever happened to that name?). This one was 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 3% Cab Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. I had no particular confidence in the bottle; as I recall, 2000 in Napa was widely panned, and the metal lockbox in the garage lacked the precise temperature and humidity control without which, as we all know, wine quickly turns to indigestible sludge. But what do you know? This was one of the most beautiful, expressive bottles I've had in a long time. Aromatic ripe cherry fruit wrapped in green olive, pepper, tobacco, and a little wood-smoke; terrific interplay between sweet fruit and savory elements; with rosemary and fennel on the long finish. But beyond all the descriptors, this was just a bottle whose flavors ran out happily to greet you as soon as you pulled the cork. I'm pretty sure it's the best Merryvale I've ever had. Go figure!
cheers, Patchen
