Merus was founded in the late 1990s by the husband-and-wife team of Erika J. Gottl and Mark Herold in a two-car garage behind their house in the town of Napa. A true Napa Valley garagiste producer, the couple produced only one wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon that quickly earned acclaim as a cult Cab. In 2007 the couple sold Merus to Foley Family Wines, a conglomerate of more than 30 wineries in California and elsewhere headed by Florida businessman William Foley. Foley purchased an abandoned winery in Napa and today Merus has a state-of-the-art winery. The first Merus vintage, in 1998, earned 93 pts from Robert M. Parker Jr., and more recent vintages have earned scores in the high 90s from Parker and Wine Spectator.