Citra Merlot 2018
Winemaker Notes
Since 1973 Codice Citra has produced wines that express the different terroirs and microclimates of the region. Citra wines are estate grown and bottled from a collection of family owned vineyards in the lush and various microclimates of Abruzzo’s Chieti province. Passed down from generation to generation, these families maintain small vineyards, some with just one hectare, with passion and personal care. The vineyards’ finest grapes are handpicked and blended by world-renowned enologist, Riccardo Cotarella, to express the true beauty of Abruzzo.
The vineyards have been passed down from generation to generation and have been cared for with love and passion for decades. These family owned properties, some with only 1 hectare, create a mosaic of small vineyards stretching north to south along the Adriatic coast and east to west from the sea to Majella Mountain. The range of climate and topography offers unparalleled quality and variety. There is a unique climate condition in this territory. When the warm wind blowing from the adriatic sea meets the cool air coming down from the mountains, the temperature drops blowing a cooling wind through the valleys to the sea. This phenomenon is called “brezza di terra” and provides the perfect climate for vine development. Winemaking process from vineyard to bottle led by world-renowned enologist Riccardo Cotarella.
A warm, Mediterranean vine-growing paradise, in Abruzzo, the distance from mountains to seaside is relatively short. The Apenniness, which run through the center of Italy, rise up on its western side while the Adriatic Sea defines its eastern border.
Wine composition tends to two varieties: Abruzzo’s red grape, Montepulciano and its white, Trebbiano. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo can come in a quaffable, rustic and fruity style that generally drinks best young. It is also capable of making a more serious style, where oak aging tames its purely wild fruit.
Trebbiano in Abruzzo also comes in a couple of varieties. Trebbiano Toscana makes a simple and fruity white. However when meticulously tended, the specific Trebbiano d’Abruzzo-based white wines can be complex and long-lived.
In the region’s efforts to focus on better sites and lower yields, vine acreage has decreased in recent years while quality has increased.
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.