Merryvale, Oakville Grade, Napa Valley

Happy to report that even 8 years after my last tasting this is still drinking admirably; Cork was a bit dry, but wine unaffected. This opens with notes of dark cherry, a hint of cassis, with some stewy secondary notes weaving their way in. Everything is nice and refined and in its place, subtle tannins still remain, but they are smoothed out; this indicates this could certainly go on for a few more years, but I think its well nearing …

One off from a mixed Merryvale auction lot (‘07, ‘09 and ‘10 Profiles and this for $262 total) a couple of months ago. On the nose and palate, medium notes of black cherry, black currants, dark earth, mixed herbality, and espresso. Deep purple with an ever so slight brown tinge, medium to full bodied, very thick legs. Potent, mostly integrated and not inhospitable tannins and acidity, no heat. VG complexity, VG++ persistence and intensity. As mentioned in a few TNs …

From magnum. Was very excited to open this after reading most recent reviews. However, seemed flat and never fully developed or sparkled over 3 hours.

So I brought this as part of a To Kalon battle royale . . . The contenders were a 2012 Macdonald, a 2013 Schrader CCS To Kalon, and a 2013 Realm Beckstoffer To Kalon, and my "lowly" 2007 Oakville Grade. Granted my Merryvale was a Bordeaux blend and had 5 years on the next youngest competitor - it came out on top of this blind tasting. What a tremendous effort - this is stunningly balanced and well integrated although I …

Wow. Big cherry nose and really opened up nicely. Wow.

Drank well, perfect time to enjoy. Decant for 45-60 minutes and prepare for an awesome experience. Drank as good as Profile.