Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby red color. The nose reveals hints of ripe red fruits with spicy notes of licorice and cocoa. On the palate is full, ample, with smooth and silky tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Lush and supple in texture, yet with lively acidity and finely wrought tannins, this red features black currant, plum, vanilla, coffee, iron and wild herb aromas and flavors. Powerful yet graceful, energetic and long, with a complex aftertaste that echoes fruit, mineral and oak elements. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2027 through 2043.
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James Suckling
Bright and fresh nose with dark cherries, blackberries and hints of chocolate, licorice and wet stones. Some black olives, too. Medium- to full-bodied with a succulent, racy mid-palate and vivid acidity. Ripe and polished tannins and a lingering aftertaste. A tense and nicely shaped red. Drink or hold.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
An outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in 1940s on his San Guido estate, and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia. Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends. Today Sassicaia has its own DOC designation within the Bogheri DOC appellation.