2010 Merryvale Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

The Wine that Inspired Bill Harlan, Bob Levy, and 2 Mondavis

Stepping inside Merryvale’s historic winery is like walking back in time to Napa’s Golden Age. Lining the walls of the winery’s inner sanctum are rows of hundred-year-old, 2,000-gallon wooden casks, proudly enduring like retired ships—heroes in their day. Standing between the towering casks and barrel stacks, it’s easy to see how Napa Valley icons like Bill Harlan, Peter and Robert Mondavi, and Bob Levy were inspired by Merryvale, and why they got involved in the early vintages of this legendary estate.

Today, we present a perfectly cellared snapshot of Merryvale, and a Wine Access member favorite with a collective score of 4.25 out of 5 stars. In fact, so many Wine Access loyalists raved about this release, we went back to the Merryvale cellar and raided their library stash for more of this incredible Cabernet Sauvignon.

Their signature 2010 Cab is a red aged to glorious perfection and a Napa Valley time capsule. Showing a generous bouquet of freshly picked roses and dried violets, supported by a full-bodied palate, with lush and enticing blue and black fruit notes of plum, cassis, and black cherry, this is a dynamic wine bursting with energy.

A library selection like this—an exclusive release from Wine Access sourced directly from the winery’s own stash—is a time machine into the heart and history of America’s most important wine region.

The history of Merryvale also tells the story of Napa, and their wines reflect the Valley’s deep sense of tradition, especially in a vintage like the venerated 2010, which Robert Parker called “outstanding.”

Now, nearly a decade after the fruit was harvested—from top vineyards like the Merryvale St. Helena Estate, Stagecoach, Larkmead, and more—this a red on a gorgeous crescendo to Cabernet perfection. Robert Parker himself has praised its “plush, opulent black fruits intermixed with subtle background oak,” and Antonio Galloni’s Vinous extolled the virtues of “this promising, delicious Cabernet Sauvignon” for its “cinnamon, plums, black cherries, mint and mocha.”  We adore Merryvale’s generous, complex expression of everything from juicy black fruits, flowers, and dark chocolate to freshly turned soil and graphite.

Though the first red wine bearing the name “Merryvale” didn’t come into existence until 1983, the winery was one of the first built in Napa following Prohibition. Early vintages were produced by Napa legends like Robert Mondavi and Bill Harlan, and Merryvale’s estate vineyard itself is a spectacular site, perched atop a 900-foot ridge between Conn Valley and Spring Valley, adjacent to Bond’s Quella property.

In other words, this 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon had everything going for it even before the harvest. What no one could have predicted, however, was just how epic 2010 would be, how revered perfectly stored bottles from the most iconic producers—like Merryvale—would become. But once Decanter proclaimed how the cool season, “issued in vibrant, juicy, concentrated wines which marry considerable early appeal with structure for the cellar,” the secret was out.

A perfectly-cellared Cabernet straight from the winery’s cool cellars, this Merryvale library release is hitting its stride: Its black fruit flavors and unending nuances are a generous, complex testament to the deep roots of Merryvale, and a toast to the history of Napa Valley and its limitless potential.