Check this out. Merryvale put up an amazing set of Napa Cabernet Sauvignans to taste blind against their PROFILE, also tasted blind. Which one was it? Well, our group of 50 or so professionals from Taipei chose Merryvale Profile clearly over Opus 1, over Insignia, over Dominus and Pahlmeyer. Imagine the delight of Merryvale’s proprietor René Schlatter with this result, by no means guaranteed.

On the whole I found this selection of NAPA Cabs pleasantly restrained, with Merryvale showing a very elegant balance of structure and fruit. All the wines were vintage 2014, so we had to make allowances for their youth, but I don’t think any of us are likely ever to have another chance to taste so many cult wines from California all together in the same sitting. The contrasts were quite surprising. Thanks to Zoe Chou of Creation Wine & Spirits for putting together the event of a lifetime.