Nose
2010 Profile is a dark, brooding wine with intense aromas of cassis, blackberry, chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, smoke and cedar.
Palate
It is very dense in the mouth with ripe, round tannins, and it finishes with lingering notes of black cherry, grilled herbs and violets. This wine must be decanted in its youth, and with proper cellaring it will age for 15-20 years and beyond.
Growing Conditions
Profile is typically a blend comprised of the top vineyard sites in our portfolio across the Napa Valley, drawing on the strengths and complexity inherent in different soils and microclimates, but the 2010 vintage was an exception. For the first time in Profile’s nearly 30 year history, the wine is 100% estate grown, sourced entirely from our gorgeous hillside St. Helena Estate Vineyard. The primary reason for this lies in the relatively cool growing conditions of the 2010 vintage, which weren’t optimal for ripening in many parts of the valley, but were ideal for the more exposed south and west facing slopes of our estate. While we were very pleased with the overall quality of the wines in 2010, we found in our blending trials that the estate lots still stood head and shoulders above the rest, and we ended up making an even more severe selection than usual in order to preserve this quality. What we ended up with is one of the
darkest colored, most concentrated Profiles that Merryvale has ever produced!
Harvest
The 2010 harvest in the Napa Valley was an uneven and ultimately very rewarding vintage. The coolest summer since 1972 continued into the fall, resulting in some of the latest picking dates in memory. The extended hang time increased complexity in the grapes, which were picked at moderate to slightly lower sugar levels. The results were outstanding white wines with bright acidity and wonderful aromatics, and red wines with dense color, superior concentration, and balance, all at moderate alcohol levels. Handpicked in the early morning and triple sorted.
Bottling
Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Winemaking
Grapes loaded via gravity into small fermenters. Native malolactic fermentation.
Aging
Aged 22 months in French oak (100% new).
